



In 

I!- 








Class \.^tClLi. 



Book 



F^C- 



Copyright N°. 



COPyRIGHT DEPOSnV 



PHILIPPINE EDUCATION SERIES 

ELEMENTS OP 

PHILIPPINE 
AGRICULTURE 



BY 



EDWIN BINGHAM C0PFT.AN1), Ph.D. 

SUPERINTENDENT OF THE INSULAR AGRICULTURAL 
SCHOOL OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 




YONKERS-ON-IIUDSO\, NEW VORR 

WORLD BOOK COMPANY 

AND MANILA 
1908 




'^J^\ 



PHILIPPINE EDUCATION SERIES 



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PREFACE 

The general principles and a large part of the facts to be taught 
in most subjects in the elementary schools are the same in every land. 
Some subjects might be taught in the Philippine Islands from Ameri- 
can texts, except as they gain in presentation by the use of local 
examples and illustrations. With agriculture the case is very differ- 
ent. The subjects to be studied are almost all different from those 
in the United States; the climate is different, the economic conditions 
are different. A useful text-book must be adapted to all of these 
differences. 

Our text-books are the products of evolution, those in use to-day 
having the good features but, as far as can be helped, not the weak- 
nesses of their predecessors. The teaching of agriculture in any 
large number of schools is so recent that this selection has not yet 
gone far. Even in temperate countries, there has not yet been time 
for general experience to decide what material, from the almost un- 
limited amount available, should be chosen for school use ; the 
methods of presenting it are as diverse as the limited number of books 
permits, and a logical relation of the material seems as yet to have 
been less considered by most authors than the exercise of the eyes 
and hands and the teaching of mere facts. 

In a subject in which texts are still so undeveloped, and in the first 
attempt in a tropical field,^ it is inevitable that this book will be far 
from what many will think it should be. Under the circumstances, 
I trust that their criticisms will be constructive, and that they will 
be sent to the author. 

There is nothing unreasonable in good agriculture, and the fact that 
a text on the subject must be practical does not involve its being dis- 
connected or illogical. I believe that whatever success has rewarded 
my effort to present this subject logically increases, instead of detract- 

1 Lyon's interesting reader is not, and is not called, a text-book of agriculture. 

ill 



iv PREFACE 

ing from, its practical value ; for every student is most certain to 
remember, and most likely to practice, the things he really under- 
stands. There are, of course, practical limits to explanations ; I 
have had to use my own judgment as to where these limits are 
reached. 

My work on this little book has covered more than two years. It 
was at first proposed that a set of leaflets on Philippine agriculture 
be written, and Mr. Edgar M. Ledyard was associated with me in their 
preparation. Later, when it was decided that a book, rather than 
a set of leaflets, was needed, a more homogeneous treatment became 
necessary, and being absent from the Philippines, I completed it 
alone, and am individually responsible. I wish to express here my 
obligation to Mr. Ledyard for his help on the preliminary work, and 
for helpful criticism of the completed manuscript. For helpful criti- 
cism and suggestions, thanks are also due Dr. David P. Barrows, 
Director of Education for the Philippine Islands; C. W. Burkett, 
joint author of Agriculture for Beginners; K. L. Hatch, joint author 
of Elementary Agriculture ; W. J. Spillman, United States Depart- 
ment of Agriculture ; John W. Ritchie, author of the Physiology and 
Hvgiene used in the Philippines ; E. N. Henderson, Adelphi College, 
Brooklyn, N.Y. ; F. M. De Forest, St. Paul's School, Concord, N.H. ; 
W. W. Rodwell, Division Superintendent, Laguna Province, P.I. ; and 
H. H. Buck, Division Superintendent, Batangas Province, P.I. 

For the use of photographs, many of which are copyrighted, ac- 
knowledgment is made to Hon. Dean C. Worcester, Secretary of the 
Department of the Interior, Philippine Islands; the United States 
Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. ; La Hacienda; Ilie 
World's JVork; Dr. Harold W. Fairbanks ; Professor John W. Ritchie ; 
and Caspar W. Hodgson. 

Finally, my greatest obligation is to the publishers, who have been 
most generous of time, labor, and expense. 

EDWIN BINGHAM COPELAND 

MaNIL.^, February 29, 1908 



CONTENTS 



List of Illustrations 
To THE Teacher 
Introduction 

CHAPTER 

I. Plants . 

II. The Seed 

III. The Soil 

IV. The Food of Plants 
\\ Plants and Light 

VL Plants and Water 

\'II. Climate and Agriculture 

VIII. The Living Enemies of Crops 

IX. The Garden 

X. Starch Plants 

XL Maize . 

XII. Rice 

XIII. Slgar-Cane . 

XI\'. The Coconut 

XV. Fiber Plants 

X\'I. Tobacco 

XVII. Coffee 

X\'III. Cacao 

XIX. Fruits 
Glossary 

Index . 



PAGE 

vii 

xi 

I 

3 
1 1 
i6 

24 
32 

35 
46 

53 
61 
82 
90 

•03 
1 12 
1 22 

133 
150 

160 
168 

ni, 
187 
190 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



FIG. 
I. 
2. 

3- 

4- 

5- 
6. 

7- 
8. 

9- 

10. 

1 1. 

12. 

13- 

14. 

IS- 
16. 

17- 
18. 
19. 
20. 
21. 
22. 

23- 
24. 
25. 
26. 
27. 
28. 
29. 
30- 
31- 



Map of garden plot 

Mushroom 

White American l)ean 

Sinamay 

Seedling bean 

Stem of bamboo . 

Parts of a leaf 

Parts of a flower . 

Parts of a seed 

Split coconut showing liusl 

Squash seed . 

Germinating squash seed 

Germinating bean 

Sprouting coconuts 

Germinated maize 

Jack-fruit showing seeds 

Papaya showing seeds . 

Diagram of soil, subsoil, and rock 

Church tower overgrown with plants 

Rocks standing out on seacoast 

Stones in soil 

Fertile alluvial soil in a vallev 

A sandy beach 

Coconuts from fertilized anc 

Tubercles on roots of bean pi 

Maize in rich soil . 

Maize in sand or gravel 

Stem placed in red ink (expe 

Particles of soil 

Root hairs 

Soil very badly cracked 



unfcrtilizec 
vnt . 



riment) 



and 



5 
6 

7 
8 

9 
9 
10 
1 1 
12 
13 
13 
13 
14 
14 
15 
15 
16 

17 
18 

19 



27 
29 
30 
30 

38 
39 
41 



Vlll 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



32 


Arid land before irrigation 


33 


Arid land after irrigation 


34 


Irrigation ditch 


35 


Rainfall map 


36 


Locust . . . . . 


37 


Metamorphosis of tlie coconut 


38 


Catching a swarm of locusts . 


39 


Spraying machine . 


40 


Coffee plant stripj^ed by rust . 


41 


Philippine Normal School gar 


42 


Hoe and rake 


43 


Spade and fork 


44 


Seed box to protect seed from 


45 


Sweet potato, or camote 


46 


Ubi vine . . . . 


47 


Taro, or gabi 




48 


Beet 




49 


Turnip . 




50 


Radish . 




51 


Garlic . 




52 


A field of onions . 




53 


A cabbage field 




54 


A head of lettuce . 




55 


Cucumber • . 




56 


Squash . 




57 


Ampalaya 




58 


Field of watermelons 




59 


Sitao 




60 


Peanut plant with fruit 




61 


Okra . 




62 


Tomatoes, boxed for ma 


rket . 


63 


American eggplant 




64 


Philippine eggplant 




65 


Red pepper . 




66 


Maniok, or cassava 




67 


Potatoes 




68 


Arrowroot 




69 


Field of maize 


, 



)eetl 



den 



ants 



43 
44 
45 
49 
53 
54 
55 
56 
58 
62 

63 
64 

65 
67 
68 
69 
69 
70 
70 
71 
71 
72 

73 
73 
74 
74 
75 

n 

78 

79 
80 
81 



83 
87 
88 
90 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



IX 



Stalk of maize showing inflorescences 

Diagram of pistillate inflorescence 

Ear of maize in husk . 

Several varieties of maize 

Philippine plow . 

Modern steam gang plow 

Maize — cultivated 

Maize — neglected 

Head of rice 

Terraced rice paddies . 

Igorot women transplanting 

Old way of threshing rice 

A modern rice thresher 

Stalk of sugar-cane 

Apex of stem of sugar-cane 

Philippine sugar mill . 

Sugar-cane in flower 

Things made from coconut shells 

Coconut trees on the seashore 

Flowers and fruit of the coconut 

Coconut groves . 

Coconuts germinating in seed bed 

Husking coconuts 

Collecting tuba 

Field of abacd 

Taking abaca fiber to market 

Primitive abacA press . 

Bunch of abacd fruit 

Abacii fruit showing seeds . 

Removing outer strips of abacd stems 

Splitting abaca before stripping 

Stripping abaca . 

Drying abacd 

Maguey plants 

Pineapple plants in fruit 

Cotton field and cotton-picking machine 

Flower of the tobacco plant 

A well-cultivated tobacco field 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



io8. 


Tobacco plant 


109. 


Coffee fruit . 


no. 


Coffee plantation 


III. 


Drying coffee 


112. 


Healthy young cacao tree 


113- 


Cacao tree in fmit 


114. 


Bunch of latandan bananas 


115. 


The morada banana 


116. 


Papaya tree in fruit 


117. 


Pomelo 


118. 


Orange 


119. 


Lemons 


120. 


Mango tree . 


121. 


Inarching . 


122. 


Mangosteen 


123. 


Atis .... 


124. 


Chico .... 


125. 


Guavas 


126. 


Breadfruit . 



PAGE 
158 
160 
165 
166 
168 
172 

177 
178 
179 
179 
180 
181 

183 
184 
184 
185 




TO THE TEACHER 

No teacher of this subject may forget that its value is in its practice; 
that it is stucUed not, in the end, for the sake of what can be learned, 
but for the sake of what can be done with what is learned. Fully half of 
every student's work in agriculture should be devoted to his garden, and 
to the preparation of reports on his work there. 

The Note-Book. Each student should have a note-book. In it he 
should report fully everything that he does, his reason for doing it, and 
what it teaches him. Each day's work should be written up in the note- 
book on that day. The teacher can have the notes kept satisfactorily 
only by examining the note-books often and without previous notice. 
From the daily notes the students should compile reports on the differ- 
ent plants with which they work. For the sake of completeness and 
convenience as to inspection and use, these reports should be uniform 
in arrangement. The following general form may be used, with the 
facts called for put in the note-book under each heading : 

Seed : Origin. 

Time required for germination. 

Germinating power (per cent which germinate). 
Date of planting. 

Transplanting (if done) : Date, and size of plants. 
Soil : Sand, loam, or clay. 

Preparation. 
Cultivation : Dates and method. 
Irrigation : Dates and amount. 
Date of flowering. 
Date of maturity. 
Crop : Part of plant used : amount. 

How harvested. 

Treatment of crop. 

U.ses. 
Enemies : Methods of combating them. 

Influence of condition on growth, development, and maturing. 
Comparison with work of other students. 



Beets : planted Oct. 
i8. Rows 50 cm apart ; 
plants 25 cm apart. 
Page — .* 



Lettuce: planted 
Oct. 19. Rows 30 cm 
apart ; plants 25 cm 
apart. Page — .* 



Maize : planted Oct. 
20. Rows 90 cm apart ; 
hills 75 cm apart, 3 
plants in each hill. 
Page — .* 



Summer squash: 
planted Oct. 22. Hills 
I m across, 3 plants in 
a hill. Pasie — .* 



X ?f ^ X 

P^ 7y w ry 



^ V? rC ?f ^ 

f)^' <^ C^ ^? ^£> 

Tj ^ ^ ^ ^ 

?^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 






f^ ^ 



^ ^ =* # 



* 4> 



o 




Fig. I. Map of garden plot. Scale : 2 cm = 1 m 

* This refers to the page in the student's note-book, 
xii 



TO THE TEACHER xiii 

The School Garden. Every school in which agriculture is taught must 
of course have a garden, which ought to be large enough to give each 
student sufficient ground so that its thorough cultivation will require 
nearly half of the time he has for this study. This ground should be 
typical of the land in the community. If the garden is put on much 
better ground than most of that about it, the students may not learn so 
well from their garden work how to work on other soil. Ti:e first thing 
that must be provided for a school garden, after securing the land, is a 
good fence. It does not pay to raise tomatoes and beans for pigs and 
goats. It is usually a part of agriculture for men to keep their lands 
fenced, and in school the students should do this work. 

The Student's Plot. The size of plot for each student must depend 
upon the available land ; 5 meters by 2!^ is a good size, but it is possi- 
ble for a student to keep in proper cultivation a plot at least one half 
larger than this. Rather than make the plots much smaller, let two 
students be assigned to each ; for if the plots are too small, the distance 
between the plants will fail to show the importance of space in garden- 
ing. The paths between the plots may be 30 cm to 50 cm wide. 

Mapping the Plot. Each student should map his plot with the 
utmost exactness, everything on the map being according to a fixed 
scale. One to fifty is a good scale ; on this scale 2 cm on the map will 
equal i meter on the garden. A larger scale is still better, if it does not 
make the map too large for a page of the note-book. 

After the corners of his plot are marked and he has some ground 
cultivated, the student should take a rule and measure off a fixed dis- 
tance from each of the corners at one end, and mark this distance with 
a small stake. The line connecting these stakes is parallel to the end 
of the plot. If it is 20 cm from the end of the plot, it will be 4 mm 
from the end of a map whose scale is one to fifty. If a row of plants is 
put along this line, the plants should be exactly on it. Do not tolerate 
inaccuracy in the measurement of the plot, in the notes, or in the maps. 
Even the distance between individual plants should be fixed and exact, 
and shown in proper proportion on the map. The map will not be 
made all at once ; but as soon as part of the plot is planted, that part 
will be drawn on the map. Along the sides of the map should be the 



xiv TO THE TEACHER 

names of the plants, with a reference in each case to the page in the 
note-book where the experiment with this plant is described. 

Choice of Plants. In deciding what plants shall be cultivated in the 
school garden, first choice must be given to the plants in cultivation by 
the people of the locality. With these it will be well to cultivate also 
some plants locally unused, but cultivated elsewhere in the Philippines 
or elsewhere in the world. Most of the plants now cultivated in the 
Philippines are natives of other countries ; and the most valuable plants 
of other tropical countries are now cultivated in the Philippines. The 
seeds for each student's planting must be so chosen that he will have 
work throughout the school year. If plants which mature quickly, such 
as the radish, are planted early in the year, other plants should be ready 
to take their place as soon as the ground is vacant. 

Plant Records. A part of the garden area should be used for 
the cultivation of perennial plants. In this part every school should 
endeavor to have growing every perennial plant that is of real economic 
importance in cultivation anywhere in the Islands. This part of the 
garden will illustrate the lessons dealing with these plants. In most 
gardens it will be impossible for each student to cultivate all the 
important plants grown by any student. However, none, even those 
which he does not himself cultivate, should be wanting from any stu- 
dent's note-book. The teacher should know the exact history of each 
plant, and should see that the students' note-books contain as complete 
an account as possible of every plant cultivated, according to the tabu- 
lated form already given. These accounts should be put in the note- 
books when the plants in question are studied in the text-book. In 
reporting the plants he did not cultivate, the student should tell where 
he obtained the results stated and should be very concise ; if possible, 
he should in such cases report averages from several plotsrather than 
the work of any one student. 

Questions and Directions. In most of the chapters in this book 
are questions, or directions for work, printed in a smaller type than 
is used for the text. These questions should -invariably be answered 
in the note-book, and reports on the work called for should be written 
in full. 



TO THE TEACHER XV 

Value of Demonstration. The good teacher will always demonstrate 
everything possible. It will be especially necessary for the teacher to 
give to students who have not studied plant life good demonstrations of 
the facts learned in that study, which this book assumes all students to 
know. For instance, if the students do not already know them well, the 
teacher should show them every part of all the plants studied, and tell 
the name of each part and what it does. There are concise definitions 
in the glossary, which will be helpful in this work, both to student and 
teacher. But no good teacher will leave students to learn the use of 
many words, or expect them to acquire a knowledge of the structure of 
plants, or of the parts of plants, from such a condensed treatment as is 
possible in this glossary or in the body of the book. 

Tools. The use of tools cannot be taught by a book. If the school 
has tools, a book is not needed to teach what is most important about 
their use. And if a school is without certain tools, a book will certainly 
do no service by devoting much space to describing them and explaining 
their use. 



INTRODUCTION 




GRICULTURE is one of the oldest oc- 
cupations of civilized men, and is still 
the most essential form of human indus- 
try ; for agriculture supplies the food of 
most people, and most of the raw ma- 
terial for manufacture. 

This book is an attempt to present 
concisely the fundamental facts about Philippine agri- 
culture, and to show the relation of these facts to one 
another. 

Agriculture is more important in the Philippines than 
in countries of the temperate zones, because there are 
few manufactures, and the soil and climate are espe- 
cially favorable to the growth of plants. Because of 
this advantage, agriculture will surely continue to be 
the chief occupation in these Islands, and no other sub- 
ject studied will have so great an industrial value as this 
one. 

In its narrowest sense, agriculture is the cultivation of 
the fields. In the broader sense in which we are using 
the word, it includes gardening, as well as the study 
of the origin and nature of soils, of the different crops, 
and of the uses of these crops. 

Before students are ready to study agriculture, they 



2 INTRODUCTION' 

must know something about the life of plants, and the 
principal facts of physical and political geography. Agri- 
culture is usually understood as including also the care 
of domesticated animals, and in some countries this is 
its most important part. But in the Philippines animal 
husbandry is unimportant compared to plant industry ; 
for no animal product is a usual article of export, and 
the principal local use of animals is in the cultivation 
of plants. Therefore, the study of agriculture in the 
Philippines includes little besides the study of cultivated 
plants. 

The need of the study of agriculture is the greater 
because the fields are now far less productive than they 
ought to be. Sugar lands here produce one cjuarter of 
what lands no better are made to produce in Hawaii; 
coconut trees are half as productive as in Ceylon ; most 
of the coffee plants are dead ; sweet potatoes and maize 
are very poor; and cassava is neglected, while starch, 
which can be made from it, must be imported from 
America. The backwardness of Philippine agriculture 
will of course never be overcome as a result of school 
work alone, even if the work be done in the high schools, 
where it may be done most effectively. But there are 
more heads and more hands in the work of the lower 
schools. The boys who study agriculture must know 
that they are not only preparing themselves for the most 
general industry of these islands, but are helping by their 
work, in school and after school, in the uplifting of their 
people. 



CHAPTER I 

PLANTS 

Plants and Animals. Everybody can tell a typical plant 
from atypical animal. Maize is a typical plant; so is 
a tree or a bush. The carabao is a typical animal ; 
dogs, birds, and insects are other typical animals. 

Plants cannot Move. Plants live all their lives in one 
place ; while animals walk, or fly, or swim, or crawl. 
Everybody knows why animals move. They move to 
get food. 

Plants are living things, just as surely as animals are ; 
and since they are living things, they, too, must have 
food. The food of plants must be made up of things 
which are where the plants grow ; or else the plants, 
because they cannot move to get their food, would 
starve. 

Foods of Plants. Water is one of the most impor- 
tant foods for plants. There is water in the soil, and 
the roots get this water for the plant. Dissolved in 
this water are other foods v/hich plants need. Plants 
also 2:et much food out of the air. One of tlie sub- 
stances wliicli make up the air is carbon dioxid. This 
substance is injurious to animals, but a most im]3ortant 
food for plants. It is being 'formed all the time, by 
the breathing of living things, and by the burning of 
wood, coal, and oil. 

3 



4 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

How Plants make Food. It is only in the light that 
plants are able to use carbon dioxid as a food. Car- 
bon is taken from the air by the leaves. The leaves 
contain a green substance called chlorophyll. It is be- 
cause they have this green substance that plants can 
use the carbon dioxid as a food. This chlorophyll ab- 
sorbs the light. By means of the light which is ab- 
sorbed by the chlorophyll, the carbon dioxid in the 
leaves is united with the water taken up by the roots, 
and forms sugar, which is a plant food. 

How Plants differ from Animals. You have learned 
that plants, like animals, are living things. You have 
also found out that typical plants differ from animals. 
They differ in four important respects: 

1. Plants are green, containing a green pigment, or 
color-body, chlorophyll, which is not found in animals. 

2. By means of chlorophyll, plants absorb the sun- 
light, and by means of the light, they can make or- 
ganic food, such as sugar, from the inorganic sub- 
stances, carbon dioxid and water. 

3. Since these very simple food substances, carbon 
dioxid and water, are almost everywhere in the world, 
plants need not move to get their food. Therefore, 
plants are stationary. 

4. Since plants are stationary, they can protect 
themselves with rigid cell walls. These are made of 
cellulose. Since animals must move to get their food, 
they can have no such rigid cell walls. 

There are many plants which are not typical. Mush- 



PLANTS 



5 




Fk;. 2. Mushroom 



rooms, for instance, are without chlorophyll, and there- 
fore cannot make their own organic food. But they are 
known to ]3e plants, because certain things 
show that they are descended from typical 
plants. 

Since Philippine agriculture is almost 
entirely devoted to plants, the subjects 
for our study arc plants and the factors 
which influence the growth of plants. 
The chief of these are the soil, water, 
light, and heat. 

Name four tyi)ical plants ; four typical animals. In what way are 
plants like animals? How are they different? 
Why must animals move to get their food? 
How do plants get their food? 
Name some plant that is not typical. Why is it not typical? 

KL\DS OF PLANTS 

There are more than 300,000 kinds of plants in the 
world. They are divided into five great groups : 

1. Seaweeds. The simplest plants form a group called 
seaweeds, most of which live in water. All other plants 
are descended from these. They have no distinct leaves, 
stems, and roots, but do contain chlorophyll. Many of 
them are food for fish. 

2. Fungi. The fungi differ from seaweeds in not 
containing chlorophyll. They must get their food as 
animals do, from other plants or animals. Some of 
them, as the mushrooms, get their food from the re- 
mains of dead things. But many of them, called para- 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



sites, live on other living plants. Some of these do 
great damage. The worst Philippine parasite is the 
coffee rust. 

3. Mosses. Mosses are unimportant plants descended 
from seaweeds. 

4. Ferns. Ferns are beautiful 
i I\m "^ ^ plants, descended from the moss 

f ^ VWi "^ m gi"oup. They have roots, stems, 
f h wiml iWk and leaves, but do not form 
seeds. 

5. Seed Plants. Plants having 
flowers and seeds are called seed 
plants. In this group are the 
most important plants, and al- 
most all the cultivated plants, 
including trees, ornamental 
plants, and all food plants. 

Scientific Names. Each kind 
of plant is a species, and has a 
Latin name. This name is made of two parts — a 
genus name, and a species, or specific, name. 

A plant has a genus name, just as a person has a 
family name, and a species name, just as a person has 
a given name. Thus each plant in the Phaseolus genus 
is called Phaseolus. Then, to distinguish a plant from 
others in the same genus, a species name is added. 
Among the plants of the Phaseolus genus, for instance, 
are the mungo, the patani, and the white American bean. 
They are called Phaseolus Mungo, Phascohis luuatus, 




Fig. 3. Phaseolus vulgaris, or 
white American bean 



PLANTS 7 

and Phascolns vulgaris. The genus name is always 
written before the species name. The name of the 
mushroom shown in T^igure 2 is Agaric us Mcrrilli. 

THE USES OF PLANTS 

Food. The study of plants is more fundamentally 
important to us than is any other subject of study. For 
our greatest want is food, and all our food, except water 




Flij. 4. Sinam.iy 

and salt, is furnished by plants. If we eat meat, or 
eggs, or fish, we are still dependent on plants, for they 
nourish the animals we eat. 

Fuel. We are equally dependent on plants for our 
fuel, used for warmth, cooking, or lighting. This 
is still true even if we burn coal, for coal is made of 
the remains of plants which lived long ago. 

Clothing. For most of our clothing, also, we are 
dependent on plants. The most important of the textile 
materials is cotton; others are hemp, flax, piiia, and 
abaca. 



PHILIPPINE A GRICUL PURE 



Building Materials. Plants furnish our most useful 
buildino; materials. While some houses have stone 
walls, and roofs of tile or iron, these materials are not 
nearly so much used as lumber. Many houses in the 
Philippines are built entirely of nipa, bamboo, and 
rattan. 

Medicines. Most of the medicines are furnished us by 
plants. A book about Philippine 
medicinal plants has been written by 
Dr. Pardo de Tavera. 

Plants furnish us many other useful 
substances, such as rubber, gutta 
percha, resins, and most kinds of wax, 
and gums. 

Soil enriched by Plants. Plants also 
improve the soil. Most plants cannot 
grow where plants have not grown 
before. The finest soil is where 
many plants have lived and died and 
decayed. 

Beauty of Plants. Plants make beau 
tiful the places where they grow, and 
beauty has very real value. 




Fl(".. 5. Seedling bean, 
showing leaves, cotyle- 
dons, stem, and root 



THE PARTS OF PLANTS 

The Root. The first part of the plant which comes 
out of the seed grows downward. This part of the plant 
is called the root. The function, or work, of the root is 
to fasten the plant securely in its place, and to take from 



PLANTS 




the ground both water and substances whicli are dissolved 
in the water. 

The Shoot. \\\q part of tlie plant which starts u])ward 
from the seed, and usually grows in the air, is the shoot. 
The shoot is composed of stem and leaves. 
The stem is the axis of the shoot. The stem 
of a large plant, such as a tree, is com])osed of 
the trunk and the branches. The functions, 
or duties, of the stem are to hold the leaves 
where they will be exposed to the light, and 
to carry substances between the roots and the 
leaves. Stems are made up of nodes and inter- 
nodes. The nodes are the places where leaves 
and branches come out of the stem, and the 
internodes are the parts of the stem between 
the nodes. 

Leaves. In general, leaves grow in such 
a position as to receive the 
most light. Leaves are very 
important parts of the plant, stem of bam 
for in them the raw substances 
taken from the ground and 
the air are made into useful foods for the 
plant. The parts of a leaf are the base, 
the petiole, or leaf-stem, and the blade. 

Vegetative Parts. The stem, leaves, 
and roots work together to secure and 
Fig. 7. Parts of a leaf storc up food, and thus to build a strong, 
healthy plant. They are called its vegetative parts. 



•K;. 6. 



boo showing 
nodes and in- 
ternode 



10 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 




seed. Of ovule 



^ ovary 



Reproductive Parts. A plant has also reproductive 
parts, whose work is the production of young plants. 
These reproductive parts are the flowers, fruits, and 

o stigrr.a seeds. One of the parts 

.style of a perfect flower is the 
anther ovary. The ovary contains 
-stamen ovulcs, aud cacli ovule con- 
-pctai tains an ^%'g, which can 
.sepal grow into a plant like its 
parent. WHien the ^^^ has 
grown for a little while, 
FIG. 8. Parts of a flower j^^ growth ccascs, and the 

coats of the ovule harden around it; we then have a 
seed. While the ovules are thus changing into seeds, 
the ovary surrounding them develops into a fruit. 

Find the ovules in the flower on patani, and show by a series of 
young fruits that these ovules become the seeds. Draw the different 
stages. 

Name fifteen cultivated plants, and tell for what each is useful. 

Name three plants cultivated for their roots ; three cultivated for 
their stems ; three, for their leaves ; three, for their fruits ; three, for 
their seeds. 

What parts of the pineapple plant are valuable? For what are they 
valuable? What parts of the coconut tree are useful? 

What do you think is the most inii)ortant Philippine plant ? 

Name two Philippine medicinal plants, and give their uses. 



CHAPTER II 



THE SEED 



Parts of the Seed. A seed is a reproductive structure, 
composed of the embryo, seed coats, and sometimes an 
endosperm. 

Embryo. The embryo is the young plant, in the seed. 
Its parts are the radicle, the cotyledons, and the plumule. 
The radicle becomes the root of the plant, and the plu- 
mule becomes the shoot. 

Seed Coats. The seed coats consist of an outer coat 
and an inner coat, and are to pro- 
tect the embryo. The outer coat, 
called the testa, is always hard; 
the inner coat is called the teg- 
men. In some seeds the inner 
and the outer coats cannot be sep- 
arated. There is a hole through 
the seed coats called the micro- 
pyle, by which water can enter 
the seed. Through this hole the 

radicle comes when the seed germinates, or begins to 
grow. 

Endosperm. Some seeds, such as the seed of the coconut 
palm, and of maize, contain a store of food outside the em- 
bryo, but inside the seed coat ; this part of the seed is called 




cotyledons 
Fig. 9. Parts of a seed 



12 



PHILIPPINE A GRICUL PURE 




an endosperm. Many seeds contain no endosperm; such 
seeds have their food stored in the cotyledons. Squash 
and bean seeds have no endosperm. 

Germination of Seeds. If seeds are dry, they can remain 

alive for a long time, but 
when they are moist, they 
must either germinate, or 
die and decay. A seed 
can germinate only when 
\\ has moisture, air, and a 
proper temperature. 
Enough air is dissolved 
in water to permit some 
seeds to germinate if they 
are under water, but most 
seeds will decay if they 
are kept there long. A 
seed is more likely to 
germinate in moderately 
cool than in warm water. 
Kinds of Seeds. Tliere 
are as many kinds of seeds as there are kinds of flower- 
ing plants. Related plants usually have similar seeds 
and fruit. All the plants whose seeds have one cotyledon 
are called monocotyledons ; among these are rice, maize, 
cane, gabi, abaca, and palms. Plants whose seeds con- 
tain two cotyledons are called dicotyledons ; among these 
are beans, squashes, tobacco, coffee, and many other 
plants. Ferns are without seeds. The largest of all 




Fig. io. Split (.uconut ^1 
or husk 



ig fruit coat, 



THE SEED 



1^ 



seeds is the coconut. Tlie Big Trees of California have 
seeds so small that 500,000 of them weigh only one kilo- 
gram ; but a tree grown from one of these seeds may 
weigh a thousand tons. 



Fii;. II. 
Squash seed 



Study of Squash Seed. Examine a squash seed, noting its shape. Draw 
the seed. In tfie sharper end is a small hole, the micropyle. Carefully 
remove the testa, or outer coat. The thin, greenish inner 
coat, the tegmen, may then be seen. Remove the teg- 
men ; what is left is the embryo. Its sharper end is the 
radicle. Two fleshy cotyledons make up the most of the 
embryo ; they are attached to the up- 
per end of the radicle. Between the cotyledons, at 
the base, is a small, triangular structure, growing 
on the top of the radicle ; this is the plumule. 

Germinate squash seeds on moist paper, or in 
sand or sawdr.st. What part is first to come out of 
the seed? Where does it come out? In what di- 
rection does it grow? Plant some of the seeds in 
sand, sawdust, or eartli. What parts appear first 
above the surface ? Try to germinate 
seeds under water; what happens? 
Let the sand in which some are germi- 
nating become dry ; what happens ? 
Study of the Bean. Study a bean in the same way. 
Are the seed coats separable? Is the embryo straight? 
Do the cotyledons of all seeds appear above the ground? 
Study of Coconut Seed. Remove the husk and hard 
shell of the coconut ; what remains is the seed. The seed 
coats are thin and inconspicuous. The meat of the coco- fic. 13. Ger- 
nut, which, when dried, is copra, is a part of the en- '"'"^ '"S ^^" 
dosperm ; the water inside the meat is also a part of the endosperm. 
Embedded in the meat, under one of the three eyes, is the embryo. 
Split it. The end next the shell is the radicle. The other end is the 




Fiu. 12. Germinating 
squash seed 




14 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



single cotyledon. Embedded in it, pointing toward the inside, is the 
plumule. This cannot be seen plainly until the seed begins to germi- 
nate. 




Germination of Coconut. When the coconut germi- 
nates, the embryo elongates, pushing out through the eye, 

and b e n d i n g ct o w n w a r d . 
After the roots become sev- 
eral centimeters long, the 
plumule breaks out through 
a slit in the embryo, just be- 
low the shell, and grows up- 
ward. The 
inner tip of the 
cotyledon en- 
larges, and 
becomes a 
porous body, 
called a foot, inside the meat, from which 
it extracts food for the young, growing 
plant. 

Draw a coconut seedling, with half of the shell 
and meat removed. 

What is the taste of the foot? What gives it this 
taste? ^ ^ • J 

Fig. 15. Germinated 
maize 

The Fruit Coat. The husk of the coco- 
nut is the fruit coat. Many seeds are even more firmly 
united to the fruit coats than is the coconut. This is 
true of maize and other grains. 



Fl(i. 14. Sprouting coconuts 
ready for planting 




THE SIIED 



15 



Study of Maize and Castor Bean. Dissect and germinate some seeds 
of maize. Is maize seed more like the scjiiash seed or the coconut? 
Study the castor bean in the same.way. How does it resemble the coco- 
nut? How is it like the stiuash seed? 

Fruits. A fruit is the entire reproductive structure 
developed from a single ovary. A fruit may contain one 
seed, or few seeds, or many seeds. Most fruits which 
contain a single seed do not set it free, ]3ut instead of 





Fic;. 16. Jack-fruit sliowi; 



Fig. 17. PajDaya sliowing seeds 



this the whole fruits are scattered and planted. All 
grasses and many weeds have such fruits. The sfrass 
family includes bamboo, and all grains. Many-seeded 
fruits scatter their seeds in various ways. 

How are the seeds of eggi)lant scattered? Of cotton? Of castor 
bean? Of papaya? 



CHAPTER III 



THE SOIL 

Any part of the surface of the earth in which ordinary 
j)lants may grow, or \\'hich can be 
made fit for crops, is called soil. 

The larger part of the earth's sur- 
face is water; ordinary plants cannot 










"■row in the sea, which of course is 



not soil. Some of the earth's surface 
is solid or broken rock ; this part, like- 
wise, is not a fit place for ordinary 
plants. 

Rocks are under all soils, every- 
where ; but soils vary greatly in depth. 
Soil in level places is usually deeper 
than on mountains, because the soil 
Fiu. i8. Diagram show- washcs froui tlic mountaius to the 

ing the positions of ■■, 

soil, subsoil, and rock vaUCyS. 

THE ORIGIN OF SOIL 

Weathering. In all towns in the Philippines there 
are old stone buildings or old stone walls. On these, 
and in the cracks between the stones, plants are grow- 
ing ; so there must be soil here. But on a new wall or a 
new building we can find no plants and no soil. 

i6 



THE SOIL 



17 



"- ■^" -""-s- 



As the wall grows old the softer parts and the more 
exposed parts begin to disintegrate, or wear away. The 
wearing away is due to the 
" weather," and therefore is 
called " weatherino;." 

This "weather" which 
can disintegrate rocks is 
made up of three factors : 
the moisture, the wind, 
and changes of temper- 
ature. The most active of 
these factors is the mois- 
ture. Some of the soil 
form ed by w e a t li e r i n g 
blows away as dust, or 
washes away and becomes 
mud. Some remains on 
the walls and is the soil 
in which we see the plants 




Fk;. 19. Tower of chuixli at iJaiaga, 
Albay, niined by eruption of Mayon in 
1814, now overgrown with plants 



How old must walls be before 
plants grow on them? Will this 
happen sooner in dry or in moist 
places ? 

Formation of Soil. All the land surface of the earth 
came orio-inallv from beneath the sea, and was once 
solid rock. Just as stone walls are made by the weather 
into places where plants can grow, so the exposed part 
of this rock is made into soil. In the disintegration of 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



the rocks of the earth, running water also is very active. 
In cold countries, ice has helped to do this work. 

As is true of walls, some parts of rocks are softer than 
others, and disintegrate more quickly. Most of the hills 




Fig. 20. Rocks standing out of the sea on the coast of Northern California 

and mountains in the world are the hard spots which 
have been left, while the softer places around them have 
worn away. 

KINDS OF SOIL, BY ORIGIN 

Residual Soil and Loess. While the soil was forming 
from the rocks, some of it was carried away, and some 
remained at or near the places where it was formed. 
The latter kind is called residual soil. Some fine soils 
are so light that the wind can carry them as dust. Soil 
formed by the settling, or deposition, of fine particles 
from the air is called loess ; it is usually a very compact 
soil, because it is made up entirely of fine particles. 
Dust blown into the air by volcanoes sometimes settles 
as loess. 



THE son. 



19 



Alluvial Soil. Most of the soil which moves from one 
place to another is carried by running water. Even the 
clearest creeks and ri\'ers always carry some of the land 
with them. When there are 
storms, a great deal of water 
runs from the land, and the 
soil carried with it makes 
the stream muddy. 

In the mountains, rivers 
run so rapidly that they can 
carry not only mud, but 
even large stones. When 
they reach more level land, 
where they flow more 
slowly, the stones are left. 
Lower down, where the 
water runs still more slowlv, 
it loses the '^rravel ; and 
then the sand falls to the 
bottom. The finest par- 
ticles of the soil are carried 
on, and sink to the bottom 
of the still water at the rivers' mouths. In this way 
deltas are formed. 

Soil deposited from water is alluvial soil. Alluvial 
soil is usually fine and uniform. It is provided with 
all the foods of plants, and is easy to cultivate because it 
is level. The level land near Manila Bay, and almost all 
other level land in the Philippines, is alluvial. 




21. Stones in soil 



20 



PHILIPPINE A GRICUL TURK 



Mold. When plants and animals die, their bodies 
become a part of the soil. Where vegetation is very 
dense, as it is in heavy forests, a large part of the soil 
is formed in this way. Soil formed mostly by the decay 
of plants and animals is called mold. Mold is always a 




Fig. 22. Fertile alluvial soil in a valk-y 

rich soil, because it is made up of what has already been 
plant food. 

Humus. In marshes the organic matter — the bodies 
of plants and animals — sometimes cannot decay, be- 
cause there is no air in the soil. Such soil becomes 
sour, and therefore useless. A soil which is sour 
because it contains much insufficiently decayed matter 
is called humus. 

Most plants cannot live in sour soil ; but if humus 
is well aired, it will become an excellent place for them. 



THE SOIL 21 

Putting lime on it also will make it fit for plants to 
grow in. 

THE STRUCTURE OF SOIL 

Qualities of good Soil. In order that plants may grow ^ 
well, it is most important that the soil should have the 
power to hold water. It must also be wefl aired, and 
must contain the foods that plants require. 

Weigh exactly a kilogram of moist soil. Spread it out on a paper 
or board in the sun, taking care that none is lost. When it is as dry as 
it will become, weigh it again, and so learn what per cent more of water 
was in it than is in air- dry soil. Dry it in or on a stove, and weigh it 
again. Its further loss of weight shows that air-dry soil is not really dry. 
Put it in the sun for two hours, and weigh again. It is now heavier, 
which shows that really dry soil can take up moisture from the air. 

Make these experiments with sand and with clay, and compare the 
results. 

Note the area of the surface of a potato. Dip it into water, and, 
after shaking off all the water possible, weigh it. Cut it in two. Is 
there more potato than there was before ? Has it now more surface? 
Dip it into water, shake it well, and weigh it again. Cut each piece 
again and again, noting the effect on the area of the surfoce, and on the 
power to hold water. If this experiment is well made, it will prove that : 

{a) The smaller the pieces are, the greater the surface is in propor- 
tion to the mass. 

(/;) The greater the area of the surface, the more water can be held. 

These conclusions are as true of the soil as they are of the potato. 

KINDS OF SOIL, BY STRUCTURE 

Sand and Gravel. A soil of which as much as 40 per 
cent is made of particles as large as 0.025 of a millimeter in 
diameter is called sand. Sand is the coarsest agricultural 



22 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



soil. Gravel is made of still larger particles, but it is 
hardly fit for plants to grow in. 

Loam and Clay. A soil of which between 20 per 
cent and 40 per cent is made of particles as large as 
0.025 mm in diameter is called loam. Alluvial soil and 
mold are usually loam. 




-x'-""*"^ 




Fig. 23. A sandy beach on tlic coast ot Luzon nc.ii' Atiinotuui, layaljas 

Most soils of which less than 20 per cent is made of 
particles as coarse as 0.025 mm in diameter are clay. 

Take half a kilogram of each of these soils, air-dry. Let each stand 
overnight in water. Carefully pour off what water will run off, and then 
weigh the soils. How much water will each now hold ? In the pre- 
vious experiment with sand and clay, which held more water when 
air-dry ? 

Soil and Water. You have already learned that the 
finest soils will hold the most water. The water which 
sand can hold is less than 25 per cent of the weight of 
the sand. Loam can hold 25 per cent to 80 per cent 



THE SOIL 23 

of its weight of water; and clay can liold more than So 
per cent. 

When a soil takes up as much as 80 per cent of its 
weight of water, the water often completely fills the spaces 
between the particles of soil, driving out all the air. The 
roots of most plants cannot live in a soil without air. 
Therefore, clay is a difficult soil for plants to grow in. 

What is the origin of the soil in your garden? What is its structure 
(sand, loam, or clay) ? Why is loam usually a better soil than clav ? 
Why better than sand? At what time of year is sand likely to be best 
as a soil ? Do you know any wild plants that grow only in sand ? 



CHAPTER IV 

THE FOOD OF PLANTS 

Need of Abundance of Food. If a plant has no food or 
has too Httle food, it starves to death, just as we should 
do. But the least quantity of food which will keep a 
plant alive is not enough to make it grow, and if a plant 
does not grow, it is of no value to agriculture. Nor is 
mere growth all that is needed. Agriculture is not 
profitable unless the plants raised grow thriftily and 
rapidly. They cannot do this unless they have a great 
deal more food than would keep them alive and let them 
grow a very little. Hungry plants, like hungry men, are 
poor workers. 

Importance of Variety of Food. Plants are also like ani- 
mals in needing several kinds of food. Men need to eat 
some salt; if they did not get salt, by itself or in other 
food, they would die. But if they got salt and no other 
food, they would still more quickly starve to death. 

Rice is the principal food of nearly all Filipinos, but 
all Filipinos know that they cannot live on rice alone. 
Plants have many foods which are so absolutely neces- 
sary that if any one is entirely wanting, the plant must 
die. 

CHEMICAL ELEMENTS 

Composition of Substances. Nearly all the substances 
we see in the world are combinations of simpler sub- 

24 



THE FOOD OF PLANTS 2$ 

stances. Thus, tlie air is a mixture of gases, among 
which are oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon clioxid. The 
first two of these are simple substances, l^ut the last is 
itself a combination of oxygen and carbon. Water is a 
combination of two simple gases, oxygen and hydrogen. 
The bodies of living things are exceedingly complex com- 
binations and mixtures. 

Elements. Simple substances, that is, substances which 
cannot possibly be divided so as to give parts of different 
kinds, are called elements. Iron, gold, silver, and copper 
are simple substances. About seventy elements make 
up the world, and everything on it, as well as the sun, 
moon, and stars. 

Elements Essential to Plants. Of the seventy elements, 
there are ten, without all of which no green plant can live. 
These are carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, sulphur, 
phosphorus, iron, calciuni, magnesium, and potassium. 
Fungi can live without two of the ten needed by green 
plants — calcium and iron. Besides the ten elements men- 
tioned, animals must also have chlorine and sodium. 

The Organic Elements. Carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and 
oxygen niake up a very large part of all living things, 
and are therefore often called the organic elements. Be- 
side these four, sulphur and phosphorus are part of the 
living substance itself, of all living things. The uses of 
the individual elements are not well known. 

Calcium, Iron, and Potassium. Without calcium, plants 
cannot move food from the leaves to the stem and roots; 
so these parts may starve and die, though the leaves may 



26 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

be full of starch. Iron is a part of the chlorophyll; so 
plants without iron become white, and die because they 
have no chlorophyll to absorb the light. One use of 
potassium is to keep plants stiff and fresh by helping 
them to hold water; wilted plants cannot grow. 

How Plants obtain the Elements. Plants can take up 
none of these elements, except, perhaps, oxygen, by them- 
selves, but must receive them in combinations. The 
most important of these combinations is water, from 
which plants obtain hydrogen, and perhaps oxygen. 
Carbon is obtained from the carbon dioxid in the air. 

The other combinations which supply plants with food 
are called salts. The salts dissolve in water, and plants 
take them up with the water in which they are dissolved. 
Although nitrogen is a gas, making up a large part of 
the air, plants cannot use it as a food in this form; their 
nitrogen must be in the form of salts, dissolved in water, 
which the roots can get. The water dissolves all these 
salts from the soil. Therefore, soil which is without any 
of them cannot support plants. 

Elements usually Abundant. Except, rarely, in the case 
of iron, without which the younger leaves are white instead 
of green, it is impossible to know from a plant's appear- 
ance that it is in especial need of any one food. The 
only^ way to determine this is by experiments, as described 
on page 29. But most of the necessary elements are so 
abundant everywhere in the soil that plants never suffer 
for them. 

Magnesium, iron, and sulphur are not present in large 



THE FOOD OF PLANTS 



27 



quantities in most soils, but plants need very little of 
these, and })ractically always have sufficient. Plants need 
much calcium, but most soils contain much of it. Sugar- 
cane is the only important P]Tilip[)ine crop likely to need 
more calcium than is present in the soil. 

FERTILIZERS 

Calcium. Substances containing plant food, which are 
added to the ground to make it more productive, are 




hii;. 24. Coconuts liom one acre of lenilized anti one acre ol unleitiiized land on tlie 
Loxton and Palmlands Estate, Ceylon 

called fertilizers. Ground which has been producing 
sugar for many year.-> is often very weak in calcium. If 
limestone or coral, which contain much calcium, be 
crushed and put on the ground, there will be a greater 
yield of sugar; the limestone or coral is a fertilizer. 



28 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. The elements of 
which agricultural soils are likely to contain less than 
plants need are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. 
Therefore, these are the ones which should be used in 
fertilizers. Sometimes all three of these are needed, but 
usually some one is needed more than the others. Some 
fertilizers contain all three, and other foods besides, while 
other fertilizers contain hardly any of more than one. 

Decaying vegetation contains all the foods of the 
plants that are decaying, and is therefore sure to contain 
some of whatever foods are most needed by any plant. 

Manures. Stable manure also contains all the sub- 
stances needed by plants, but contains more nitrogen 
than plants do, and is therefore an especially good fertili- 
zer for general use. Poultry manure is especially rich in 
phosphorus. Because it is very soluble in water, poultry 
manure is a strong fertilizer, and plants are sometimes 
injured by too much of it. 

Bat manure and bird manure, which are called guano 
when sold as fertilizers, are also rich in phosphorus. All 
of these manures contain considerable potassium also. 

Bones and Ashes. Bones and fish-refuse are rich in 
phosphorus. Ashes are usually rich in potassium, whicli 
is called potash when used as a fertilizer. When a plant 
is burned, the hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen go into 
the air, leaving all the other foods in the ashes. Ashes 
are therefore an excellent fertilizer for plants which are 
not in especial need of nitrogen; but for plants which 
need this substance, they are useless. 



THE FOOD OF PLANTS 



29 



::i 



Bean Plants and Nitrogen. Tlic plants of the bean fam- 
ily have small knotty and wartlike growths on their roots. 
These growths are called tubercles, and are caused by 
very small germs, or bacteria. The tubercles are the 
homes of bacteria. Through the activity of these bac- 
teria, nitrogen is taken from the air and stored in the 
tubercles. This is called "fixing" the nitrogen. When 
the plants die, a part of the nitrogen 
fixed in their tubercles remains in the -'"^^^ra^^ -^ 

ground and enriches it. If the livino- (^^S^w^^^^^^ 
tops of these plants are plowed under, 
the soil is still more enriched in nitro- 
gen. Plants used in this way are 
called [2"reen manures, 

O 

Experimenting with Fertilizers. As 
has already been stated, we cannot tell 
positively from the appearance of a 
plant what fertilizer it most wants ; 
but we can learn by an easy and cheap y\g. 25 
experiment. Suppose that w^e have a 
field of maize which is well cultivated and watered, but 
still produces small crops. Some fertilizer is almost cer- 
tainly wanted; but we might lose considerable money 
by treating the whole field with a fertilizer not especially 
needed. 

So we mark off plots two meters square ; and on one 
plot put one kilo of manure; on another, two kilos ; on 
another, one half kilo of ashes ; and on another, one kilo. 
Guano, fish, or fish-refuse, and bean or peanut tops can 



Tubercles on the 
roots of a bean plant 



30 



PHILIPPINE A GRICUL PURE 



be used on other plots, if these fertihzers are available. 

The effects of the fertilizers on these little plots will 

show what one it will be 
best to use on the whole 
field. Sometimes a mix- 
ture of fertilizers will give 
good results at the least 
cost. 

The Caingin System. 
Since plants use up the 
food in soils, it becomes 





Fk;. 20. Maizt^ in rich soil 



Fit",. 27. Maizf in sand or gravel 



impossible after a time to raise good crops, without ferti- 
lizers, on ground which was once fertile. The caingin 



THE FOOD OF PLANTS 3 1 

system of cultix'ation consists in clearing a new field 
whenever the old one ceases to yield well. This system 
is very expensive in the amount of labor required and 
very bad for the land. 

Rotation of Crops. Different crops do not need the 
different foods in equal amounts. Therefore, a soil 
which will not produce more good crops of the kind 
already grown may still prove fertile, if a different crop 
is planted. It is good agriculture, when working with 
crops which do not live many years, to change the crop 
frequently on each piece of ground. A regular succes- 
sion of crops chosen so as to prevent the exhaustion of 
any particular food from the soil, is called rotation of 
crops. 

In the garden, fertilize one half of a plot of maize, and one half of a 
plot of some kind of bean, with manure, putting one kilo on each square 
meter. Leave the other half of each plot without any fertilizer. Cul- 
tivate the two halves in exactly the same way. Note the difference in 
the amount of the crop, and in the time it takes it to mature. This ex- 
periment should be made by the whole class rather than by the individ- 
ual students. 



CHAPTER V 

PLANTS AND LIGHT 

Chlorophyll and Light. W'c have already learned that 
the essential difference between plants and animals is 
that plants can form their own organic food by means 
of the light absorbed by the chlorophyll, while animals 
have not this power. Carbon dioxid and water are the 
substances from which the plant makes its food ; and the 
first visible product of these in the plant is sugar or 
starch. 

Value of Sugar and Starch. Sugar or starch is used in 
forming all the different parts of the plant. Without 
sugar or starch, no plant can grow, or even live. These 
products are equally important to men, for it is to 
secure one of these, or something made from it, that 
every plant is grown in agriculture. As these products 
are formed by the help of chlorophyll, and it is the leaves 
— the green parts of plants — that contain the chloro- 
phyll, we know that they are the parts where the sugar or 
starch is formed. 

Light Essential. If we examine any cultivated plant, 
we see that its leaves are arranged so as to receive all 
the light possible. Since plants can form sugar (or starch) 
only in the light, and have no value except when they 
produce it, and in general are worth more, the more of 
it they produce, it is very clear that good crops cannot 



PLANTS AND LIGHT 33 

be expected from plants that receive less light than they 
need. 

Amount of Light Needed. The amount of light needed 
depends on the kind of plant. All of our cultivated 
plants are descended from uncultivated plants, and re- 
tain most of the characteristics of their wild ancestors. 
Some of them demand all the sunlight possible. Among 
these are the coconut and the plants of the grass family, 
such as rice, maize, and cane. Other plants grew in 
forests when they were wild plants, and do not usually 
thrive in very strong light. The reason for this is that 
their leaves, being large, cannot always be supplied with 
water; therefore, in dry or windy weather they become 
injured by dryness. Plants of this kind must usually be 
protected by shade trees. 

Shade-loving Crops. The principal shade-loving crops 
of the Philippines are abaca, cacao, and coffee. It is only 
during the dry season, however, that too much light can 
injure these plants, and in places where there is no dry 
season they ought not to be shaded. In such places 
they are more productive, because they receive more 
licrht, and so can srrow faster and strono^er. In some 
parts of Mindanao, abaca produces a good crop when 
eighteen months old, and yields 18 piculs of fiber a year 
from one thousand plants. In places where abaca must 
be shaded, two years is an early yield, and 12 piculs a 
very satisfactory product. Coffee needs to be shaded 
in Batangas, but not in the highlands of Benguet and 
Lepanto. 



34 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

Tobacco is a plant which can well use all the light 
possible while it is young, but when it is older ought to 
be shaded to produce the finest leaves. It is the only 
plant on which light has any possible bad effect, except 
that of causing too great loss of water. 

Distance between Plants. The distance by which plants 
ought to be separated is determined by their need of light. 
If placed too near together, the individual plants receive 
too little light, and usually grow tall and slender, and pro- 
duce little or no fruit. A hcktar of land will produce 
more fruit with a proper number of plants than with too 
many; so the added plants are worse than useless. 

The influence of light on the production of fruit is 
illustrated by the coconuts at San Ramon, the govern- 
ment farm near Zamboanga. Trees in a dense grove 
bore less than 8 nuts in three months; in a more open 
grove, less than ii ; in a double row along a road, 22; 
in a single row by a slough, 27; and a large tree stand- 
ing alone bore 55. This is at the rate of 220 nuts a year 
for the solitary tree, probably 10 times as many as for 
the trees in the denser grove. 

At La Carlota, in Negros, 25,000 plants of purple cane 
on one hektar of land produced 6 picos more of sugar 
than did 30,000 plants on an equal area. 

Weeds. Of course, anything which robs plants of light 
is very injurious. One of the ways in which weeds injure 
crops, in addition to taking a part of their food from the 
soil, is by taking a part of their light. There are no 
weeds in a good garden, and not many on a good farm. 



CHAPTER VI 

PLANTS AND WATER 

Plants need water for tliree purposes : for their supply 
of hydrogen, for use as building material, and as a source 
of mineral food. 

Hydrogen. They get hydrogen from it. Plants must 
have hydrogen, and they can get it only from water. 
Next to carbon and oxygen, which plants can obtain 
from the air, they need more of hydrogen than of any 
other food. 

Building Material. Plants require many times as much 
water for building material as for food. It must be in 
the cell-walls; in the living substance, the protoplasm; 
and in the vacuoles, which are the cavities inclosed by 
the protoplasm. 

The water in the walls makes it possible for the .sub- 
stances dissolved in the water to pass through the walls; 
if the walls were dry, the sugar formed in the leaves 
could not pass to other parts of the plant. 

The activity of the protoplasm depends on the water 
in it. Seeds are inactive, because they contain little 
water; when they are wet, they become active and 
terminate. 

The water in the vacuoles keeps the soft parts of 
plants, such as leaves and the tips of stems and roots, 

35 



36 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

fresh and in the proper form. If the vacuoles lose much 
water, the plant wilts. Wilted plants cannot grow. 

Mineral Food. Plants need water for the mineral food 
dissolved in it. Boil water from a well in a kettle for a 
long time, and you will find a lining or sediment in the 
kettle; this is made of salts which were in the water, and 
were left behind when the water evaporated. Water 
evaporates from the leaves of plants, and the substances 
dissolved in the water are left behind. 

Transpiration. Evaporation from living plants is called 
transpiration. The water transpired by plants is many 
times as much as the water needed for building material. 
E.xcept for their transpiration, plants would be practically 
unable to get their mineral food, however much of it 
there might be in the ground. 

Transpiration takes place almost entirely from the 
leaves. ' If it is too active, the plants wilt, and wilted 
plants can neither grow nor make their food. If wilted 
plants continue to lose water too rapidly, they die. But 
so long as growing plants are able to get water as rapidly 
as they lose it, and so prevent wilting, the most rapid 
transpiration is the best ; because the more rapid is the 
transpiration, the more mineral food is obtained. Sun- 
light, wind, dry air, and warmth help transpiration. On 
the other hand, darkness, moist air, still air, and cold 
hinder transpiration. 

The Transpiration Stream. The water transpired by the 
green, soft parts of the leaves reaches them through the 
veins and ribs. It comes to these through the petiole 



PLANTS AND WATER 



37 



from the stem. The stem gets it from tlie big roots and 
these from their branch roots, and these finally from the 
young, newly grown parts of the finest roots. In the 
roots, stems, branches, petioles, and veins the water 
is always moving upward in the wood. 
This current of water is called the 
transpiration stream. The wood is a 
strand in the axis of each root. The 
water reaches the wood through the 
fleshy part of the root, from the epider- 
mis, or surface layer. 

Cut off a leafy branch or stem and put it in red 
ink. In what part (bark, wood, or pith) of the 
stem does the ink rise? Can you prove by this 
experiment that water moves through tlie veins 
of the leaves? How rapidly does water rise in 
the stem? This experiment will succeed best if 
the stem is cut under water, and put into the ink 
without letting it get at all dry. 

Find the woody strand, and the soft part 
around it, in a coconut root. Old roots of coco- 
nut have alio a hard shell, tlie hypodermis, which 
forms just inside the very thin epidermis, and kills 
the latter. Where there is a hard hypodermis, water cannot be ab- 
sorbed ; there is no hypodermis near the tip of the root. 

If coconut roots are not available, use betelnut. 

WATER IN THE SOIL 

Plants sometimes have so much water that it injures 
them, and sometin^ies they suffer because they cannot 
get enough. It is generally possible for us to remove 
some water if there is too much in the soil, and to fur- 




FlG. 28. Stem placed 
in red ink 



3S 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



nish more if there is too little. Agricultural plants are 
damaged more by dryness than in all other ways together. 
Providing for their proper supply of water, if they have 
too little, is therefore the farmer's most important single 
task. 

Effect of too much Water. We have already learned, in the 
chapter on the soil, that the soil is made of fine particles, 
each of which is surrounded by a very thin film of water. 
Between these particles, with their films of water, the soil 

also contains air. Too much 
water in the soil displaces 
the air. The roots of most 
plants must breatlie free air, 
just as we must, and they 
die if there is no free air in 
the ground, just as men 
drown if tJiey are too long 
under water. The only 
P h i 1 i pp i n e agr i c ul t u ral 
plants which can live in soil 
full of water are rice and 
gabi. Cacao also can live 
longer than most plants without free air in the soil. If 
soil is too wet, it is usually easy to drain it by digging 
ditches for the water to run out. Ground which is 
always low and wet should be drained by permanent 
canals. Narrow, temporary ditches, quickly made and 
easy to fill up, often make it possible to use during the 
rainy season gardens otherwise too wet for any use. 




Fig. 29. Particles of soil {a) surrounded by 
air ((J) "and water {c) 



PLANTS AND WATER 



39 



ABSORPTION OF WATER 

Roots. Since the water in good soils is all in the mem- 
branes surrounding the soil particles, it is the water in 
these membranes which the roots must be able to take 
up. As a matter of fact, they are never able to take it 
all, but die from dryness while the soil still holds some 
water. To be able to take the water 
from the soil particles, the roots of 
the plants must come into contact 
with these particles as completely 
as possible. And since it is ob- 
viously the surface of roots which 
can absorb water, they need to have 
a irreat deal of surface. To o-et a 
great surface, and to reach all the 
soil particles possible, most plants 
have a great number of fine roots. 
By actual measurement, the total 
length of the roots of one squash 
plant was twenty-five kilometers. The coconut is nota- 
ble for having few fine roots ; yet one tree may have 
more than six hundred thousand absorbing tips. 

Root Hairs. Hut even the finest roots of plants are 
usually not fine enough to keep plants well supplied 
with water, and so the roots have special absorbing 
structures, the root hairs. These are tubular outgrowths, 
each from a single epidermal cell. They have exceed- 
ingly thin walls, and so can grow into the finest chinks 




Fic;. 30. Root hairs in 
contact with particles 
of soil 



40 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

between the soil particles, and fit into their smallest un- 
evennesses, instead of pushing even the smallest particles 
aside, as the roots do when they grow through the soil. 
This makes them better fitted than the finest roots to 
take the films of water away from the particles of the 
soil. They also increase the absorbing area of the roots; 
the hairs give the roots of some plants as much as twelve 
times the absorbing surface the roots would have without 
them. The hairs are formed on the youngest parts that 
have stopped growing. They are short-lived, and so are 
not found on old roots. 

Wash the soil very carefully from the roots of a young maize plant 
with roots not more than lo cm long. The roots will be seen to have a 
felty covering made of the root hairs. y\ single root hair is often too 
small to be seen without a microscope. 

Because the root hairs are so delicate, it is usually im- 
possible to transplant a j^lant without breaking most of 
them. When they are broken, the plant is left without 
its absorbing structures, and even if the ground be very 
wet, the plant is likely to die promptly for want of water 
if it transpires actively. The transpiration of transplanted 
trees is often prevented by cutting off a large part of the 
leaves or branches. When garden plants are trans- 
planted they must be shaded, if the sun shines. Within 
a day or two they provide themselves with new root hairs, 
and the shade may be removed. Because the air is most 
moist at night, the best time of day for transplanting is 
late in the afternoon. Plants should be watered before 
and after transplanting. 



PLANTS AND WATER 



41 




Fig. 31. Soil very badly cracked 



CONSERVATION OF THE SOIL WATER 

Need of Conservation. In most parts of the Pliilippiiics 
Lhc year is made up of a rainy season and a dry season. 
As much rain falls in a few months as plants need during 
the year; and yet there are months during which they 
suffer from drought. It is the 
work of the good farmer to 
make the water last as long 
as possible. We have already 
learned that the finer the soil 
particles are, the more water 
the soil will hold. Good cul- 
tivation breaks up the soil in- 
to finer bits, and so makes it 

hold more water. In unifornily fine soil, water moves 
from one part to another much more readily tlian in 
coarse or irregular soil. 

Effect of Careful Cultivation. There is everywhere, and 
in the dryest seasons, water enough a short distance be- 
low the surface of the ground ; but the hardness and 
coarseness of the ground keep the roots from going very 
deep, and keep the water from moving upward. If the 
soil is cultivated and kept soft and fine down to where 
it is always moist, the water will constantly move u}> 
ward to take the place of what is evaporated or taken up 
by plants. Therefore, deep cultivation lets plants grow 
in places where the ground would be too dry without it. 
In Manila, lettuce will grow well in February in fine 



42 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

ground cultivated 20 cm deep, if irrigated once in two 
weeks; better than in ground cultivated 10 cm deep, 
where it is watered every other day. 

At the Spanish experiment station in Albay, it was 
found that during the dry season abaca grew better on 
land prepared with an American plow before the abaca 
was planted than it did where the Filipino plow had 
been used. 

Although clay holds more water than sand does, it 
usually dries deeper in dry weather, both because it be- 
comes hard in such large blocks that the water cannot 
move upward through it, and because it cracks badly. 

Mulching. The water which is in the soil when the dry 
season begins is lost by evaporation, either from the sur- 
face of the soil, or through plants. If all weeds are 
killed, the loss of water by their transpiration is pre- 
vented. The evaporation from the ground itself is made 
the least possible by keeping the surface smooth and 
even, and very fine. This surface is sometimes called a 
"mulch." It is dry, and full of air; but the air is quiet, 
and does not move rapidly when the wind blows, as the 
air does in a coarse, or rough, or cracked surface. In 
the latter soils the air is constantly moving in and out, 
and carrying out a great deal of moisture. Therefore, 
cultivation, by making the soil fine, not only makes it re- 
ceive water from deep in the ground, but prevents the 
loss of this water from the surface. At the San Ramon 
farm, a part of the abaca, which was planted in Spanish 
times, is no lonfjer in rows, and so cannot be cultivated 



PLANTS AND WATER 



43 



with cattle. In diy seasons this part is injured by 
drought, and finally becomes entirely uni)roductive a 
month sooner than does the cultivated abaca on poorer 



ground. 



IRRICxATlON 



Various Methods. In spite of excellent cultivation, 
some lands are so dry, and some crops so dependent on 




Y\v,. 32. Arid land in western Anieriea before irngaiinn 

water, that their profitable cultivation depends on irriga- 
tion. There are various ways of putting water on land : 
by hand, by windmills, by engines, and by gravity. 
Human labor can be used only where a valuable crop 
can be raised on a little ground, especially in gardens. 
In these, the water should be put on the ground in the 
late afternoon. Windmills, too, are used only for irriga- 
tion on a small scale, raising crops so valuable that a 
man needs but little land. Steam pumps are used in the 
United States to irricrate Gfreat rice fields ; but in the 



44 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 







The same land shown in Figure 32 after irrigation 



Philippines they are used only near cities, and are not 
likely to come into general use. 

Gravity. By far the cheapest irrigation is usually by 
gravity alone. The water is taken from a creek or river 
at some point high enough so that it will run through a 
ditch or canal to the land to be irrigated. The canal 
should be kept on the highest ground possible, so as to 
have as much land as possible below it. If much land is 
irrigated, branch ditches run from the main canal, and 
are cut off by gates which can be opened and shut. In 
this way the water is turned into different fields at differ- 
ent times. It is better to irrigate fields thoroughly and 



PLANTS AND WATER 



45 



not often, than to give tlieni a little water frequently. If 
possible, land should be cultivated as soon after it is 
irrigated as it is dry enough. After the ditches are dug 
and the gates are made, the only expense of this kind of 
irrigation is keeping the system in order. This is least 
expensive if the ditches are straight, and the water flows 
slowly. The very numerous rapidly falling streams 
make this kind of irrigation feasible and cheap on 
most of the good agricultural land in the Philippines. 




i n.. 34. li ligation ditch and flume in Lepanto-lJonti 



CHAPTER VII 

CLIMATE AND AGRICULTURE 

The possibility of any agriculture, and the kinds of 
plants which can be raised, depend upon the climate. 
The chief factors of the climate are moisture and tem- 
perature. In some places, the wind also is important; all 
parts of the Philippines north of Mindanao are subject to 
typhoons, which are sometimes exceedingly destructive 
to crops. 

Uniform Temperature. The torrid zone is characterized 
by a rather high and very uniform temperature, and 
heavy rainfall. Nearest to the equator, the temperature 
is in general most uniform, and the rainfall heaviest. 
The difference between the average temperatures of the 
coldest month and the hottest month of some Philippine 
towns is : 

Tagbilaran, 2.1° Atimonan, 4.3° 

Davao, 2.2° Baguio, 4.5° 

Cebu, 2.7° Surigao, 4.6° 

Kapis, 2.7° Tarlac, 5.2° 

Manila, 3.5° Aparri, 6.5° 

Iloilo, 3.8° Batan Islands, 7.0° 

The least known difference in the world is at Equator- 
ville, on the Congo River, where it is 1.2°. At Hongkong 
it is 13.4°. 

46 



CLIMATE AND AGRICULTURE 47 

It is the uniform temperature, not a bigh one, wliieli 
characterizes lands close to the equator. 'I'he average 
yearly temperature is greater 15° nortli, about the lati- 
tude of Manila, where it is 26.3°, than on the equator 
itself, where it is 25.9°. It must be because the tem- 
perature is not sufficiently uniform, that some plants, 
such as the mangosteen and durian, which are usually 
regarded as the two most delicious tropical fruits, do 
not grow as far north as Panay. Islands have usually a 
more uniform temperature than continental places. 

The average temperature for a month is found by add- 
ing the temperatures of all the days, and dividing the sum 
by the number of days. 

Advantages of the Tropics. No plant of agricultural 
value can grow and produce crops near the freezing 
point of water (0°), and many of them are killed by 
frost. For this reason, crops do not grow during the 
winter, where there is a winter; and there are only about 
four months during wliich the plants of temperate coun- 
tries grow really actively. Frosts probably never occur 
in the Philippines except in the high mountains of 
northern Luzon. So far as the temperature is con- 
cerned, it should be possible to raise in the Philippines 
two or more crops in a year, of most plants of temperate 
lands. 

Light. The advantage of tropical countries in agricul- 
ture is even greater than the temperature shows ; for 
they also receive more light, and so plants can form 
more organic food. The light at Para, in Brazil, and at 



48 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

Kew, near London, was measured and compared in 1866. 
In April there was 20 times as much Hght at Para as at 
Kew, and in August 3.3 times as much. 

Rainfall Important. The amount of rainfall, and its 
distribution throughout the year, are more important 
than the temperature in determining what crops can 
profitably be grown in any place. A favorable temper- 
ature is plainly of no service where the climate is too dry 
to let plants thrive. Even without rain, a moist atmos- 
phere is an advantage to plants. 

Maguey and piiia are the only Philippine crops which 
are v^ry productive where there is not a heavy rainfall 
fairly evenly distributed through all the months. Other 
crops can endure a shorter dry season, and most of them 
can be kept in excellent condition if failure of rain is 
made up by irrigation. Abaca is injured by even a brief 
drought, but coconuts would probably thrive best with 
no rain at all, if properly irrigated. Sugar, rice, and 
maize want dryness as they mature. 

Rainfall in the Philippines. There are great local dif- 
ferences, that is, differences between places near together, 
in the rainfall in the Philippines, and these determine 
what crops can be raised in the various sections. The 
rainfall at different places from September, 1902, through 
August, 1903, was as follows, the figures being the 
number of millimeters : 

Masinlok, 3862.9 Balanga, 1908.1 

Borono-an, 3452.7 San Fernando de Union, 1869.7 

Caraga, 3165.2 Surigao, 178 1.5 



CLIMATE AND AGRICULTURE 



49 



MAP OF THE 

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 

SHOWING 

MeanAnnualRainfall 



Under 100 cm 




100 to 150 cm 






150 to 200 cm 








200 to 250 cm 


'^^M: 



250to300cm|$gwS 
Over 300cm [ 




BASILAN^jJ? 



■^^' 



122° Eist of Greenwich 114° 



Of^AWN at A.aftl£5lMEIST£/t 



Fig. 35. Rainfall map 



50 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



Baler, 30084 
Baguio, 2862.3 
Kapis, 2']'$>'^.'] 
Olongapo, 2317.8 
Tagbilaran, 2286 
Vigan, 2207.9 
Atimonan, 2197.3 
Dagupan, 2066.3 
Bolinao, 2019.7 
Legaspi, 1955 
Iloilo, 1925 
Manila, 1332.3 
Davao, 1 310.2 
Cuyo, 1293.9 



Candon, 1780.9 
Porak, 1757.9 
Aparri, 171 7.8 
Dapitan, 1 700.6 
Ormok, 1699.5 
iMarilao, 1699.3 
Corregidor, 1 673.1 
Cotabato, 1633.8 
Tarlac, 1480.5 
Jolo, 14384 
San Isidro, 1354.4 
Tuburan, 1049. i 
Nueva Caceres, 1047 
Maasin, 976,2 



San Jose de Buenavista, 1258.9 Cebu, 916.6 
Cavite, 1 102.6 Arayat, 761.7 

Isabelade Basilan, 1 100.5 Zamboanga, 413.4 

These figures give a fair idea of the relative rainfall in 
different parts of the Islands. However, there is a very 
considerable variation from year to year. In Manila, the 
average, from 1S65 to 1902, was 1938.3 mm; the least 
being 906.5 mm in 1865, and the greatest, 2978.8 mm in 
1867. 

The rainfall can be measured roughly in a can fcstened on top of a 
post in an open yard. It must be measured and the can emptied 
immediately after each shower. In some places vessels to measure the 
rainfall more accurately can be obtained from the Weather Bureau. 

Dry Seasons. There is likely to be a destructively dry 
season, in any year, on the west coast of the Zamboanga 



CLIMATE AND AGRICULTURE 



51 



Peninsula, in Antique, in western Mindoro, and from Ba- 
tangas to Ilocos Norte. In those parts of the Islands bor- 
dering on the Pacific Ocean, or not separated from it by 
mountains, there is very rarely an injuriously dry season. 
In Manila, on the average, 80 per cent of the year's rain 
fails in the five months from June to October. 

Altitude and Rainfall. With altitude, that is, height 
above the sea, the temperature decreases, and the rainfall 
and the moisture in the air increase. The effect of the 
rainfall is seen by comparing that at a station of the 
Forestry Bureau on Mt. Mariveles, at 640 meters alti- 
tude, with that in Manila. The average rainfall at the 
foot of the mountain is practically the same as that in 
Manil.-i. 





At 640 Meters 


At Manila 




February, 1905 


2.2 mm 


2.S mm 




March, 1905 


6.S mm 


I.I mm 




April, 1905 • . 


273.3 '^■"■'^ 


173.8 mm 




May, 1905 . . 


70.1 mm 


24.0 mm 




June, 1905 . . 


1034.3 mm 


346.2 mm 




July, 1905 . . 


1401.6 mm 


594.4 mm 




August, 1905 . 


294.6 mm 


21 2.8 mm 




September, 1905 


709.2 mm 


239.6 mm 





Total, 8 months 



3792.1 mm 



1594.7 mm 



Altitude and Agriculture. Because of the altitude, cof- 
fee has been very profitable in Lipa and Alfonso, but 



52 PHILIPPIIVE AGRICULTURE 

never in Batangas or Naik. Coconuts do not usually 
thrive above 300 meters altitude. With the Igorots liv- 
ing above 1600 meters, millet takes the place of, rice. 
The best camotes in the Islands orrow at an altitude of 
more that iioo meters; and the best cabbages, above 
2100 meters. 

Draw an outline map of the Philippines, putting in the places whose 
rainfall is stated in this chapter, and put in the rainfall of each. 

Will abaca thrive better in Zambales or in Albay ? Why ? 

Measure the rainfall in the school garden for a month, and then com- 
pute the average rainfall for that month. 



CHAPTER VIII 



THE LIVING ENEMIES OF CROPS 

• Kinds of Plant Enemies. Almost all of the lixing 
enemies of plants are insects or fungi. Besides these 
there are birds which attack various crops, especially 
rice; bats, which eat fruit; and wild hogs and monkeys. 
The means of fighting these enemies are well known, 
and do not need to be described here. There are also a 
few diseases caused by bacteria, which have never been 
studied at all in the Phil- 
ippines; and a few dis- 
eases caused by very 
minute worms. These 
live in the ground in 
some localities and are fig. 36. Locust 

very hard to kill. Where a plant has a disease caused 
by something that lives in the ground, it is usually best 
not to try to grow the plant. As a rule, each of the 
living things which cause disease attacks a certain kind 
of plants, and is harmless to all others. 

INSECT ENEMIES 

Locusts. 71ie insect enemies of plants are numerous 
and some of them are very destructive. The most de- 
structive of all in the Philippines is the locust. There 

53 




54 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



is hardly any part of the Islands which is not sometimes 
visited by these insects, in swarms. They eat the leaves 
of plants, and so kill many crops, but are especial enemies 
of rice. 

Wood Borers and Maize Moth. \\\ insect belono-ins: to 
the group of wood borers, which make holes in the wood 






Fk;. 37. Four stages in the complete metamorphosis of the coconut Ijeetle; a, egg; 
b, larva ; c, pupa ; d, adult 

of living trees, has clone great injury to the coffee at 
Lipa ; it is called bagombong. The uang, or coconut 
beetle, makes the great holes often seen in the upper 
part of coconut trunks. It is also found in cane waste, 
and other decaying vegetation, and in manure. Unless 
all cane waste is burned or buried, coconuts and cane 
should not be planted together. About Manila and in 
some other parts of these islands there is a moth which 
does great injury to maize. 

Larva the Destructive Stage. The maize moth, and 
the uang and bagombong, are all insects having a 
complete metamorphosis ; that is, each insect, in the 
course of its life, goes through four stages, namely: 



THE LIVING ENEMIES OE CROPS 



55 



[a) the Q%%, {b) tlie larva, {/) tlie pupa or cocoon, and {d) 
the imago, or adult stage. The larva, which looks like a 
worm rather than like an insect, is the most destructive 
stage. Except the fiber plants, there is no crop in the 
Philippines which is not sometimes seriously damaged 
by insect enemies. 

HOW INSECTS ARE FOUGHT 

Various Methods Used. There arc many ways of fight- 
ing insects. Tlie uang, for instance, is fought by many 







I- -■ . ■» t —. 






I 1'.. 38. Catching a swaiiii of locusts with a net near Manila 

different means; such as, pulling him out with a bent 
pin, and plugging his hole with manure. Locusts are 
fought by smoke, by great nets, by driving them into 
ditches where they can be killed, and in other ways. 
The Bureau of Science has tried to bring into the 



56 



PHILIPPINE A GRICUL TURK 



Islands a fungus which it is hoped will kill them. 
Several years ago a man in Negros got some of this 
fungus from Africa, and killed great swarms of locusts 
within a few days. A common way of killing night- 
flying insects, such as the maize moth, is to put lamps in 
the field, with a pan of kerosene under each. The in- 
sects are attracted to the light, 
and fly against it, and then 
fall into the kerosene. This 
kills all night-flying insects, 
some of which are useful; but 
in fields where the harmful 
insects are numerous a great 
many more of them are caught 
than of the useful insects. 

Killing by Poisons. Some 
substances arc disagreeable or 
poisonous to animals but not 
harmful to plants. Tobacco 
juice and arsenic are such substances. If tobacco leaves 
are boiled in a little water, so as to make a strong juice, 
and plants or leaves are washed with this juice, insects 
will keep away from them. If arsenic is put on leaves, 
insects which eat them will die. It would cost too 
much to put these poisons on a field crop, like rice ; 
but it often pays to use them on the more valuable gar- 
den and orchard crops. They are put on by spraying. 
The poison most generally used is Paris green, which 
contains copper and arsenic. Paris green can be bought 




Fig. 39. Spraying machine 



THE LIVING ENEMIES OF CROPS 57 

of any druggist. To use it, dissolve it in water, putting 
10 orrams of Paris orreen and 10 irrams of lime in 6 liters 

O »r> »r> 

of water. It should be renienibered that a poison for 
insects is usnally poisonous for persons. In Jiandling 
Paris green be careful not to get it on yonr hands and 
in this 7uaj/ get it into yonr month. However, there 
is one substance, buhac, or Persian insect powder, which 
gets rid of insects quickly, and which is perfectly safe to 
use. It is made from a plant called buhac, which could 
be cultivated in the Philippines. 

Kerosene Emulsion. It is impossible to poison the 
scale insects and other suckino- insects. Thev do not 
eat leaves, but push a sucking tube inside the leaf, and 
suck the juice out. But they can be easily killed by 
spraying over them some kerosene emulsion. To make 
this, mix 2 liters of kerosene with 10 liters of water, and 
200 grams of soap ; mix these a7L>ay from the fire while 
the water is boiling hot, and beat or stir the mixture until 
the water, and oil do not separate. It is sometimes 
necessary to re-heat the mixture because it cools before 
it is perfectly mixed. Blowing air into it with the spray- 
ing pump is an easy way to mix it well. P^or use on a 
larger scale, make a stronger solution of the oil, and 
dilute it as it is to be used. To make this strong solu- 
tion, dissolve i kilo of soap in 5 liters of boiling water, 
and stir in 10 liters of kerosene, boiling and stirring 
until they will not separate. // is not safe to do this in 
a house. Unless the mixture is well made, the kerosene 
will kill the plants. 



58 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



FUNGUS ENEMIES 

How Scattered. There are fungus parasites (see page 

5) on every crop in the Philippines, but they probably 

do less damage here than in temperate lands. The most 

destructive here are the coffee rust and maize smut. 

These diseases spread from one plant to another by 

means of their spores, which 
are like little seeds, and from 
which new plants grow. The 
smut can get into a maize 
field on the seed planted, or its 
spores can be blown in by the 
wind from a neighboring field. 
Tlie coffee rust can be brought 
in on young plants already 
diseased, or blown in from 
other fields. The spores are 
so small that they- cannot be 
seen without a microscope. 

It is as true of the fungus 

diseases of plants as of the 

diseases of men that "an 

ounce of prevention is worth 

a pound of cure." 

How Avoided. Into neighborhoods where a disease 

does not exist, no live plants should ever be brought 

from places where it does exist. If necessary to bring 

in seeds, they should be sterilized. Any spores can be 




Fig. 40. Coffee plant stripped 
of leaves by rust 



THE LIVING ENEMIES OF CROPS 59 

killed by putting the seed for three minutes into water at 
a temperature of 57". This treatment costs nothing, 
and may save much. Or the spores can be killed by 
soaking for one hour in 5 per cent copjx'r sulphate. 
This substance, commonly called "blue vitriol," can be 
bought for a small sum in aiiy pharmacy. Either of 
these treatments is likely to hasten germination. 

How Killed. Where a disease already exists on an 
annual plant, that is, on a plant living less than a whole 
year, it can be gotten rid of by completely destroying the 
remains of the plants of any one season. If this is tried, 
all the leaves and stems should be very carefully collected 
and burned. 

This is sometimes the best wav to fi^iht a disease of 
perennial plants also, but it is very expensive. How- 
ever, all useless plants ought to be destroyed. For in- 
stance, if the people about Lipa desire to raise coffee 
again, they must first kill and burn tlie diseased coffee 
plants that are now scattered along fences and in waste 
fields. These are of no use whatever, and are as danger- 
ous to healthy neighboring trees as a man with cholera 
is to his human neighbors. If tliere are fields of coffee 
too valuable to be burned up, they should be thoroughly 
cleaned. All fallen leaves and branches as well as the 
badly diseased trees should be collected and burned. 

Bordeaux Mixture. The spread of fungus diseases from 
living plant to plant is prevented by means of Bordeaux 
mixture. This mixture is so called because it was first 
used near the city of Bordeaux, in fighting a fungus 



6o PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

enemy of the grape. It is composed of copper sulphate 
and lime. 

For use on coffee this should be a 2 per cent solution 
of copper sulphate, but for most plants i per cent is 
strong enough. Into this copper solution must be put 
lime enough to make the mixture neutral. How much 
lime this takes depends on the freshness of the lime. 
If the lime is fresh and good, use as much of it as of 
the copper sulphate. The mixture is neutral when red 
litmus paper placed in it will not turn blue, nor blue 
litmus paper turn red. It must be used while fresh; that 
is, soon after it is made. It can be sprayed on plants 
or trees, or their branches can be dipped into it. Any 
fungus spores which begin to germinate on leaves treated 
with this mixture will promptly be killed. Of course, 
the rain will finally wash it off. 

In fighting the coffee rust, the Bordeaux mixture 
should be put on immediately after the beginning of 
the rainv season. After this, the trees should be watched; 
and whenever the yellowish spots made by the disease 
begin to appear on the under side of any leaves, all the 
trees should be sprayed again. It will be necessary to 
spray well only two or three times a year, and this will 
cost much less than the value of the coffee which is 
saved. Garden crops are not often seriously damaged 
by the attacks of fungi. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE GARDEN 

What the Garden Is. A garden is a place in wliicli 
small plants, such as flowering plants, vegetables, and 
small fruits, are cultivated. A field is larc^er than a 
garden. Such plants as rice, sugar-cane, etc., which 
must be grown in large quantities in order to be profit- 
able, are cultivated in fields. Vegetables, like tomatoes, 
cabbage, onions, etc., when grown for profit, are often 
planted in fields. An orchard is a place where only trees 
are cultivated, while in a garden the plants are mostly 
herbs. 

' The Home Garden. The garden may furnish food for 
home use only, or its produce may be sold in the market. 
Everybody who has land about his house should have a 
garden to supply his own wants ; for he can cultivate it 
in the spare minutes that would otherwise be wasted. 
The vegetables so grown at home cost almost nothing. 
They taste better than those bought, since they may 
always be used while fresh. Garden crops are very 
valuable, much more so than most field crops. There- 
fore, it pays to cultivate gardens much more thoroughly 
than it is possible to cultivate large fields. 

The School Garden. Every school in w^iich agriculture 
is taught must have a garden. The usual garden plants 

6i 



62 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



should be cultivated in the school garden, and also some 
field crops, such as sugar-cane, rice, and tobacco. 

PREPARATION OF THE SOIL 

Clearing the Ground. Before work is begun on a 
school o-arden, the entire orardcn should be marked off 









liu. 41. Gciidcii in the giuuuiis ot ilic I'iiilippine Normal School, Manila 

with perfect regularity. Stakes at the corners of each 
student's plot should be driven firmly into the ground. 
All sticks and other rubbish on the ground, except herbs 
soft enough to rot easily, should then be burned on the 
plot; and there is no objection to burning the herbs, too, 
except that the nitrogen in them will then be lost. All 
stones, even little ones, should be removed entirely from 
the garden. 



THE GARDEN 63 

Moisture in Soil. The soil in a garden should always 
be moist and always well aired. Only a soil which is 
very fine and quite deep will always be both moist and 
well aired. The method of gettini;- the soil into just the 
right condition, and keeping it so, depends on the season. 
In dry weather the soil must lose as little moisture as 
possible; therefore, in the dry season the plots must not 
be made any higher than the paths between them, and the 
surface must always be kept very fine and level, so that 
the water will not run off but will sink into the ground. 




Fig. 42. Hoe and rake 

In wet weather, however, the paths may be made some- 
what lower than the plots; but if the plots are much 
higher than the paths, the soil will wash away badly in 
hard rains. Very wet soil can be broken or hoed up in 
great clods and left until partly dry. It will dry thus 
more rapidly than if untouched or made fine. But if 
these clods are left too long, they will harden and cannot 
easily be broken. 

Plots in which seeds are to be planted should them- 
selves be flat in all seasons. In dry weather flat ground, 
as we have seen, will lose the least possible moisture. 

Planting the Seed. In wet weather, if the seeds are 
planted in furrows, rain is likely to wash the soil over 
them and bury them so deeply that they will rot, or even 



64 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



if they germinate, be unable ever to reach the surface; 

while if they are planted in ridges, the rain is likely to 

wash the soil away and leave them on the surface. 

When as much of the garden plot as can be prepared 

in one day is ready, the seeds should be 

planted immediately. If a person spends 

several days in preparing the soil, and then 

plants it all at once, he is likely to find 

the part that was first prepared drier than 

the part worked later. Thus it will be a 

poorer place for the germination of the 

seed (see page 12). 

Fertilizers. If fertilizers are to be used, 
it is best to work them into the soil before 
the seeds are planted. Because of the 
greater value of garden crops, it is com- 
mon for people who do not put fertilizers 
on fields to use them on gardens. 

Garden Tools. On home gardens it is 
usually impossible to plow the ground ; 
and this is one reason for not plowing the 
school garden. The best tool with which 
to cultivate a small plot of ground deeply is a fork, A 
spade is better only when there are roots in the ground. 
It is possible to cultivate deeply with a hoe, but not 
nearly so rapidly as with a fork. After the ground is 
broken up, a rake is the best hand tool with which to 
make it very fine. 




Fig. 43. Spade 
and fork 



THE (JARDEiV 



65 




SEED BEDS 

Ants and Seeds. 1 here arc some kinds of seeds, such 
as lettuce, tomato, and tobacco, of which ants are very 
fond, and which are so small that ants can carry them 
away. If such seeds are planted in soil in which there 
are ants, very few of them will have a chance to grow. 
Sometimes the ants destroy even large seeds whicli they 
cannot carry away whole. 
When the soil is cultivated, 
the. ants in it have their 
homes broken up. If it is 
cultivated several times 
within a few days, the ants 
will tire of the place and 
find a home in quieter 
ground; cultivating three times will almost always drive 
them away. Seeds can then be planted, and, unless the 
seeds germinate very slowly, they will be entirely safe, 
for the ants do not disturb the young growing plants. 

Another way of protecting the seed is by washing it 
in i^etroleum, which will not injure the seed if it is done 
quickly enough. Some disagreeable substance, such as 
pepper, or fezu ashes, or buhac, or lime if put into the 
ground with the seed, will also drive the ants away. 

Ant-proof Seed Beds. The surest of all ways to protect 
seeds from ants is by planting them in a box supported 
by legs which stand in dishes of oil or water. Such a box 
can be set in the shade where the soil will not dry rapidly ; 
and if necessary it can be sheltered by a roof, so that 



P'lc,. 44. A seed box to protect 
the seed from ants 



66 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

the soil will not be beaten down or soaked by rain. In 
such a box the soil can be kept properly moist, and ants 
cannot reach the seed. Therefore the seed has a better 
chance to germinate than it is likely to have in the 
ground. 

Advantages of Seed Beds. A seed bed is a place in 
which seeds are planted close together to germinate, and 
from which the seedlings are afterward transplanted to 
their permanent places. The seed bed may be a box or 
a small plot of ground. Its use gives some advantages 
over planting seeds in their permanent places. The 
young plants can be growing in the seed bed at the same 
time that the ground is being cultivated to receive them. 
In this way considerable time can be gained, and in the 
case of some crops which thrive well during only a part 
of the year, this gain of time is important. 

Richer and finer soil than that of the garden can be 
used in the seed bed. This makes the growth of young 
seedlings ver}'- vigorous, and a good start is just as im- 
portant to a plant as to a boy. The soil in the seed bed 
should be light, and fine, and deep, so that the roots 
will be injured as little as possible when transplanted. 
Suggestions for transplanting have already been given 
(see page 40). As a rule, root crops should not be trans- 
planted. 

ROOT CROPS 

Camote. Root crops are those which are cultivated 
for the sake of the roots. Some plants cultivated for 
the sake of underground stems are also called root crops. 




THE GARDEN 67 

Some of the root crops were probably the first crops ever 
cultivated by men. In the Philippines and in most other 
tropical lands, the sweet potato, or cauiotc, is the most 
iniportant of them. The sweet potato is the root of the 
l^lant called Ipomoea Batatas, which belongs to the morn- 
ing-glory genus. It is a native of tropical America, prob- 
ably about Panama or farther north ; but in the Old 
World it has also been cul- 
tivated from very ancient 
times. It has so long been 
o-rown without the use of 

d,i , •, „i r „, , Fig. js. Sweet potato or caniote 

tliat it very rarely lorms ^^ ' 

any ; and even the ilowers are uncommon in some places. 
Planting and Cultivating the Camote. Sweet potatoes 
are reproduced by cutting off the end of a vigorously 
growing vine, and putting the cut end in moist ground 
where it will take root. As often as once a year, it is 
advisable to use roots for propagation instead of an old 
vine. For this purpose, the roots are buried close 
together, about 10 cm deep, in rich ground. In a few 
wrecks there are many vine branches growing from each 
root, and the tips of these are cut off and used in the 
way just described. In most parts of the Philippines 
the sweet potatoes are of poor quality, being small and 
stringy. Poor cultivation is a cause of both of these de- 
fects. This plant wants soil which is light, but rich. 

What shape have the leaves of the sweet potato? 
What shape is the sweet potato? 
How large do sweet potatoes grow? 



68 ^h:l: 

Yams. Yams are 



■'F:xe agriculture 



<( \ >. ~ 




a. Thev 



Chinese ^"aiiL Dwscorea 
Baiaias. whic' - 






:er 

.es 
s o i *v c cL 



juL -Name' 



15 a less 
rn fresh. Pa 
- -rD roots: it is - 



ut Its 



Tajo. Xext to the sweet potato, taro is 

:rop of the ^ :nes. This is 

' ^^itiquoi a . . ... j^arin. and k" 
--'.-- . . ->- Strict'iy speaking. :t - 
It is probably a Dative ok this part of :/ 
cultiv:. other tropical countries is very ancient. 

G.'. as manv ways a- ts 

" _.---._._ ..„;... -::od: the young le t 

js greens. A n.iich larger plant in the - 
iiy, ca ^ng. 15 culti\-ated in the Bisa^-as 

other p^n^ yji the Islands. Xext to rice, gabi Gcrriaoas 
~ -.- - -^T- than any other ? - '"-- "'- - T' ''- -' rs 

hea\-v soil. It i- _ _ Id 



THE GARDEN- 



69 



"roots" in the grouiKl; 

each of these soon forms 

several small plants. 

Beets. Several root 

crops of northern coun- 
tries have been introduced 

into the Philippines with- 
in the last few years. 

Among these arc the beet, 

turnip, red radish, carrot, 

and parsnip. The beet is 

the most important of 

these. It is a native of 

Europe. The real seid 

is very small, but is ;il- 

ways inclosed in a corky 

calyx. 

Iherc arc several different varieties of beets, which 

have different uses. In temperate countries, the most 
important is the sugar beet; but as it is a 
more expensive source of sugar than is the 
sugar-cane, it would be foolish to grow this 
]:)lant in the Philippines. Another very large 
beet is cultivated as a food for cattle. The 
garden beet has a thick, red root, which is 
cooked in various ways, and is a very nourish- 
ing food. The red leaves and petioles are 
also eaten as greens. Beets grow well in soil 

Fit:. 48. Beet that is licavy, but not too wet. 




Fu;. 47. Taro, 01 




JO 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 




Fig. 49. Turnip 



Planting and Culture of Beets. All of these plants should 
be planted in rows 30 cm apart, the seeds i cm deep, 
covered by very fine soil. The young plants should be 
15 cm apart in the rows. The beet, 
turnip, and parsnip will soon become 
crowded ; and then every second plant 
should be removed and eaten. 

The turnip and radish grow best on 
lighter soil. For parsnips the ground 
must be especially deep; therefore, 
they are a dry-season crop. Turnips, 
radishes, mustard, and cabbages are 
nearly related plants, and have the same 
diseases and enemies. 
In the Normal School garden in Manila, the average 
time between planting and harvesting root crops was: 
radishes, 51 days; turnips, 60 days; beets, 71 days; car- 
rots, 75 days. Cincomas is a Philippine root 
crop which belongs in the legume family of 
plants. In the Normal School garden it was 
harvested in 68 days, but was not mature. If 
the roots are left a long time in the ground, 
they cease to be sweet, as most of the sugar 
in them is changed to starch. 

Onions. The part that we eat grows in the 
ground but is not a root. In the Philippines 
the onion thrives only in the dry season. The onion plant 
reproduces poorly by seed. Its relative, the garlic or 
bauang, is a more important crop here. 




Fig. 50. Radish 



THE GARDEN' 



71 



LEAF CROPS 

There are many plants 
whose leaves or young shoots 
are eaten fresh, or cooked and 
eaten as greens. The garden 
plants raised in the Philippines 
for their leaves arc mustard, 
cabbage, and lettuce. All of 
these are agreeable but not 
very valuable foods. All have 
small seed, which should be 
planted not more than i cm 
deep, in very fine soil. 

Mustard. Mustard is best planted where the plants 
arc to grow, and not in a seed bed. The rows should be 
30 cm apart, and the plants 10 or 15 cm apart in each 




Fk;. 51. Garlic 




W\\ 



1 n.. 3^. A tu.ld ol uuioiii 



72 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



row. At this distance, the plants will be crowded before 
they are full-grown ; and crowded plants have more 
tender leaves than do plants with more room. In the 
Normal School garden, mustard matures in 44 days, 

Pe Chai. Pe chai is a Chinese plant which is planted 
and used like mustard. It is really a cabbage, but does 
not form heads in the Philippines, If the outer leaves 
are always removed before they become old, new ones 

will keep on grow- 
ing, so that the 
same plants will 
produce fresh 
leaves for several 
months. 

Cabbage. Cab- 
bages are better 
planted in seed 
beds, because they 
need to be far apart, and it is a waste of time to have to 
cultivate the ground between them while they are very 
small. In the mountains very fine and large cab- 
bages are grown; but in the plains of the Philippines, 
where they will grow only in the dry season, they 
are not large and not as hard as they should be. They 
should not be planted later than October, because 
they require a long season, and because the insects 
which attack them are least numerous early in the 
dry season. Cabbages should be 50 cm apart in each 
direction. 




Fic,. 53. A cabbage field 



THE GARDEN 



71 



Lettuce. Lettuce also is Ix'st planted in seed beds, 
because otherwise ants are likely to steal the seed. The 
young lettuce plants must be transplanted 
very carefull)', or they will not grow for 
some time afterwards. The rows should 
be 30 cm apart, and the plants 20 cm 
apart in each row. They should be har- 
vested before the flowering stem begins 
to grow above the leaves. Lettuce should 
be shaded for several days before it is cut. This checks 
the transpiration, and makes the leaves tender. 




Fir,. 54. A head 

(if lettuce 




THE SQUASH FAMILY 

The cultivated plants of the squash family are squashes 
and pumpkins, gourds, melons, and cucumbers. These 
are all large-leaved vines, valuable for 
their fruit. All of them require well- 
aired soil. They grow best, or only, 
Fir.. 55. Cucumber j^ ^|^^ ^^.^^ scason. The squashcs are 

the most important of them. 

Squash Hills. Squashes are plaiited in hills. To make 
a good hill, a round hole is dug, 20 cm deep, and 80 cm 
in diameter. The earth taken out is then well mixed 
with one quarter as much rotten nianure as earth. The 
mixture is then put back into the hole. This makes a 
hill, higher than the ground around it, and therefore well 
aired. The oround should not be fertilized later in the 
season, because if this is done, the plants are likely to 
produce long vines with little fruit. As many as three 



n 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 




plants can grow in one hill. The distance between hills 
depends on the variety of squash. Some varieties have 
long vines; some, short ones. 

Care of the Vines. In temperate 
countries, squash vines lie on the 
ground; but in the Philippines, be- 
cause the climate is more moist, they 
are usually given supports on which to 
climb. They may as well be left on 
the ground, however, unless it is wet enough to make the 
fruit decay. The vines will take root at the nodes. After 
the vines become strong and health3% these roots must be 
cut on the young parts, or the plants will make long 
vines, instead of much fruit. After a young squash ap- 
pears on a vine, it is 
best to cut the tip of 
the branch ; tli is 
makes the plant put 
its strength into the 
fruit. 

Varieties. There 
are many varieties of 
squashes, differing 
in size, shape, taste, 
and in the time it 
takes them to mature. The American squashes ma- 
ture much more quickly than do those common in the 
Philippines, but are more likely to be injured by insects 
and diseases. Ampalaya and upo are gourds rather than 




Fig. 57. Ampalaya 



THE. GARDEN 



75 



sqiiaslies, and the vines need a support upon which they 
can chnib. 




Fig. s8. Field oi vvatermelons in California 



Melons and cucumbers require a rich but very hght 
soil. In most parts of the Philippines these plants have 
not grown well, and have usually been killed by diseases. 
However, in some places, as at Bautista, in Pangasinan, 
and at Zamboanga, excellent melons are grown. 

LEGUMES 

special Value of Legumes. The legume family includes 
all the garden plants with fruit similar to that of the 
bean. This is a very large family, and includes many 
valuable plants not cultivated in gardens ; among these 
are the tamarind, or sampalok, camanchili, caturay, narra, 



ye PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

acle, ipil, and tindalo. We have already learned (see 
page 29) that the plants of this family have nodules, or 
tubercles, on their roots, and that in these nodules the 
nitrogen of the air is fixed. The legumes are especially 
useful crops, because instead of making the soil poorer, 
they leave it richer in this valuable plant food. All of 
these plants grow well in soil rich in lime. 

Kinds of Garden Legumes- The cultivated legumes are 
the cincomas, pea, the various beans, the indigo, and the 
peanut. Peas have been harvested from the Philippine 
Normal School garden 29 days after planting ; but it was 
a small crop and the plants were already dying with the 
first fruit. Neither the American pea nor the Spanish 
garbanzo has been found suited to general cultivation 
here. 

Beans. There are several valuable garden plants which 
can be grouped as beans. All of these are valuable foods, 
because they are rich in proteids, the substance for which 
lean meat is eaten. P^or this reason they are especially 
valuable to people who do not often eat meat. A person 
who eats enough beans need never eat meat or eggs for 
their proteid. 

Different Kinds of Beans. Some of these beans are 
climbing vines ; others are bushy plants. The patani is 
the most important climbing bean. Among the bushy 
ones are the American bush beans, which are natives of 
South America, and the munofo or balatons^, which is a 
native of India or Malaya. The mungo is a very pro- 
ductive and easily cultivated plant, which will grow on 



THE GARDEN' 



77 



almost any soil, and endures much water. A great 
many are eaten in the Philippines, and some are ex- 
ported to China. Cagyos, whose Latin name is Cajaints 
ludiciis, is an erect plant, sometimes 2 meters high; it 
produces its fruit about February, when other legumes 
are least abundant. Sitao and 
batao are Manila names of climb- 
ing legumes; batao has an es- 
pecially fine flavor. 

The Peanut. The peanut, Ar- 
ac/iis hypogaca, called mani in the 
Philippines, is valuable both as a 
garden and as a field crop. It is 
a native of Brazil, but is culti- 
vated in all tropical lands. The 
stem and leaves are good fodder 
for beasts, and the seeds are valu- 
able as food and as a source of oil. 
The oil is used to make soap, to 
adulterate cacao, and in otherways. 

Conditions of Growth. The peanut grows in the tropics, 
and in temperate countries where there are four months 
of hot summer without cold nights. It can endure con- 
siderable dryness, and will grow in any soil which is not 
very wet or heavy. If it is grown for the oil, light colored 
soils are best, because the nuts and oil are there lighter 
colored ; and light oil sells at a better price than dark. 
On a soil poor in lime but little fruit is produced. 

In the tropics the seeds sometimes contain 50 per 




Fk;. 59. Sitao 



78 



PHIUPPnWE AGRICULTURE 




cent of oil. In the United States, the oil is hardly more 
than 25 per cent of the seeds; but the seeds without too 
much oil are best to eat. The seeds are short-lived, es- 
pecially if they are not very dry. 

Culture of Peanuts. The soil for peanuts should not 
be cultivated more than 10 or at most 15 cm deep. On 

rich ground, the peanuts 
should be planted 2.5 cm 
deep, in rows i 20 cm apart, 
and 80 cm apart in each 
row, with 2 nuts in each 
place. On poorer ground 
they may be planted closer 
together. The plants will 
come up in from 10 to 14 
days. While they are still 
vouno-, thev should be cul- 
tivated shal lowly, about three times. The flowers are 
borne on short stalks in the axils of the leaves. After 
blossoming, the flowers wither; then the flower-stalk 
elongates, bends downward, and pushes the young seeds 
or fruit into the earth. The seeds go down into the 
ground as far as they can. If the ground is soft, they 
will grow downward for a long time instead of ripening; 
and when they do ripen, they are hard to harvest and 
many are lost. 

Harvesting Peanuts. When the crop is thoroughly 
ripe, the ground is softened enough so that the plants 
can be pulled out, with their fruit. If they are then left 



Fig. 60. Peanut plant with fruit 



THE GARDEN 



79 



in tlie sun two weeks, to dry, the seed can easily be re- 
moved, and the stems and leaves will be better as fodder 
than when green and fresh. 

Indigo, Twenty years ago, this was a very important 
crop in the Philippines, especially in Ilocos Sur. But 
some of the indigo growers and merchants there put 
other substances into the indigo, so as to make more 
money ; and after a little while 
nobody would pay a good price 
for any of their indigo. Even 
good indigo sells for a much 
lower price now than it formerly 
did. Indigo is planted i cm deep, 
in rows 40 cm apart, several seeds 
in a bunch, and the bunches 15 
to 20 cm apart. Twcnt}^-four 
liters of seed will plant i hektar. 
It may be planted whenever it 
is likely to receive light rains, 
or in the driest season if it can ^''*"- ^i- okra 

be irrigated. In Ilocos it is planted from November to 
February. It lives nine or ten months and gives two or 
three crops. The plants are cut when in flower. Two 
hundred kilos of plants will make i kilo of first quality 
indigo, or 2 kilos of "corriente." 




GARDEN FRUITS 

Okra. The common soft garden fruits are okra, 
tomato, eggplant, and pepper. Okra is a native of 



8o PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

Malaya, and thrives in the Phihppines under all con- 
ditions and in all seasons better than any other garden 
crop. The plants should stand 50 cm apart in each di- 
rection; but on very rich soil or in moist weather they 
may be farther apart. The fruit is useful only when it is 
young and tender. Then it may be used in making soup, 
stewed with other vegetables, or cooked alone. 

Tomatoes. Tomatoes should be planted in boxes or 
seed beds, botli because the ants like the seed, and be- 
cause the plants, like cabbage, 
must finally be set regularly, far 
apart. The seed can be planted 
in boxes before the end of the 
wet season, and transplanted as 

soon as the soil is dry enough. 

fk;. 63. Tomatoes boxed for Tlic plauts should bc traus- 
""'"''''' planted carefully before they are 

10 cm high; they should be 80 cm apart each way. 
Tomatoes demand rich soil, which may be heavy or 
light ; but neither the soil nor the air should be very 
moist. 

When the plants begin to bear fruit, they should be 
kept up in the air by a wooden frame, or else some dry 
grass or leaves should be put on the ground to keep the 
fruit clean. On good and fine soil, tomatoes do not 
need to be irrigated after they begin to l^ear fruit. Too 
much water makes them produce branches instead of fruit. 
Eggplant. The eggplant, or talong, is probably East 
Indian in origin. It is a fruit with fine flavor, but not of 




THE GARDEN 



81 



WJ 




mucli food value. The seeds can be planted In seed 

beds, or in their permanent places; the 

seed bed is rather better. The common 

talong in the Philippines has a long, slen- 
der, black fruit; while the 
seed from America usually 
produces a much larger but 
shorter fruit. The Philip- i-ic. 63. American 
pine plants are smaller, and ^'ssp'-^"' 

can be planted 45 cm apart, while 60 cm 
is close enough for the American variety. 

Red Pepper. The red 
pepper, of which the green 
pepper is a variety, is a na- 

fk;. 64. Philippine tive of America. It is like 
eggplant |.|^^ eggplant in being eaten 

chiefly because it has a pleasant taste. It 
should be planted like the Philippine egg- 
plant. Fig. 65. Red popiier 




Why are parsnips not likely to live in the riiny season? Answer 
fully. Why is it not necessary to plant mustard in a seed betl? 



CHAPTER X 

STARCH PLANTS 

Starch Is formed in tlic leaves of most plants, in the 
sunlight ; but this starch is soon used by the plant for 
its own growth, and leaves never contain enough starch 
so that it would pay to try to extract it. Many plants 
also store up starch in their roots, trunks, or in other 
parts to be used later in making fruit, or in propagating 
themselves in some other way. 

The thick trunk of the buri palm is a place in which 
starch is stored up for many years, and then used all in 
one season in making fruit. Every hilipino knows that 
he. can get good starch from this trunk. Sago is a kind 
of starch obtained from certain palms and other similar 
trees. Starch is also easily obtained from the fruit of 
rice and maize. Three root crops which are important 
sources of starch are maniok or cassava, potato, and 
arrowroot. 

MANIOK 

History of the Plant. ?^Ianiok is the i)lant called 
camoting cahoy in the Philippines, and known in botany 
as Manihot utilissima. It is a native of tropical Amer- 
ica, where there are many other species of Manihot. 
One of these is Manihot Glaziovii, the Ceara rubber, 
which is now being planted in the Philippines. 

82 



STARCH PLANTS 



83 




ihoy, or cassava 



INIaniok was the most important food plant of all 
tropical America when the Europeans discovered that 
country. It grows well only in the tropics. A tempera- 
ture as low as 10° is injurious to it. The plant is now 
cultivated in all tropical countries, but its starch is ex- 
ported chiefly from Brazil and the Straits Settlements 
(Singapore). It is cultivated in Florida, but yields small 
and poor crops there. 

Sweet and Bitter Maniok. The roots of all the species 
contain Prussic acid, a very poisonous substance. If 
they contain much of this, or if much of it is in the 
starchy pith, the plant is called bitter maniok ; some 
varieties contain but little, and are called sweet maniok. 
The Prussic acid can be removed by careful washing of 
the roots, by roasting or cooking, or by thorough drying 
in the sun. Sweet maniok endures a cooler country and 



84 PHILlPriNE AGRICULTURE 

poorer soil than bitter nianiok, but in such places it 
produces less starch. 

Conditions of Growth. Maniok needs frequent showers 
during the first two months of its growth, but after this 
time endures dr)^ weather well. However, if the air is 
very dry, the crop is coarse. Its soil should be deep, 
rich, fine, and loose. Good forest soil is of this kind, 
and in the Straits Settlements maniok is cultivated by 
the caingin system (see page 30). 

Maniok exhausts the soil so rapidly that after it has 
been grown only three years on the same soil the crops 
become considerably smaller. The food wliich it takes 
from the soil in great quantities is nitrogen. Therefore, 
in order to obtain good crops year after year it is neces- 
sary to use green manures. A rotation of crops, in 
which peanuts, or mungos, are planted instead of maniok 
every third year, will keep the soil fertile for a long time. 
The fertility will be still better retained if lime is put on 
the soil before the legumes are planted. 

Planting and Cultivation. Maniok is practically seed- 
less, and is propagated by putting pieces of the stems in 
the ground. Each of these pieces must contain at least 
one node, from which the young plant will grow. On 
good ground they should be planted in rows i meter 
apart, being placed 80 cm apart in each row. The 
ground should be cultivated well durino- the first two 
months. After that time the maniok will keep the 
weeds down ; but some later cultivation will improve the 
crop. 



STARCH PLANTS 85 

Some short-lived erop, such as muno-o or maize, may 
be planted between the plants of maniok; this will mature 
and be removed before the maniok is full-i;rown. Maniok 
will produce some roots on [)oor ground, and without any 
cultivation; but it is of course not a prolific crop if 
treated in this wav. Tlie g-rcen branches of the plant 
should never be cut off; but if flowers begin to grow, they 
should be removed. 

How the Starch is Secured. The crop is ready to har- 
vest when the roots are fullest of starch. If it is well cul- 
tivated, this should be in 9 to 14 months. After that 
time the starch begins to decrease. The roots can be 
cooked and eaten, if desired, like yams or sweet potatoes. 

If they are to be used as a source of starch, the roots 
must be very thoroughly washed, and then peeled. 
When clean and white, they are scraped or ground into 
a fine pulp. Clean water should then be used to wash 
the starch out of this pulp, and into tanks, leaving the 
fibrous part behind. The starch is so fine that it will 
run through fine cloth; so if the ground roots are 
washed across a tank or trough with a cloth top, the 
water and starch fall through the cloth, but the fibers 
wash away. After the starch settles in the tanks, the 
water is run off. The starch is washed until perfectly 
white, and then dried. No dust must be allowed to 
fall on it, for only pure white starch sells at a good price. 

i\ verv cheap machine for scraping the roots into pulp 
can be made by filling a sheet of sheet-iron with nail holes, 
the nail ahvays being driven through in the same direction. 



86 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

The sheet Is then fastened around a wooden cylinder, the 
rough side outward. This cylinder is turned rapidly in- 
side a larger cylinder or rounded box, with the roots be- 
tween the two. 

Yield. The average yield of each plant should be fully 
5 kilos of roots, or more than 60 tons to the hektar. 
Thirty per cent of the weight of the roots should be 
starch, and three quarters of this can be easily washed 
out. Tapioca is the finest starch made from the maniok 
plant. 

POTATO 

History of the Potato. The potato, whose name is 
Solaiium tuberosum, is also a native of tropical America, 
but it grew there only in the mountainous regions. It was 
in cultivation by the Indians as far north as Virginia. 
The potato ranks with maize and tobacco as one of the 
plants which thrive in many different climates. Al- 
though native in the tropics, it is an important crop in 
Canada. 

Conditions of Growth. The potato was introduced long 
ago into the Philippines, but it has not been well culti- 
vated, and therefore has never become an important crop. 
Except on very light or well-drained soil, it can be grown 
only in the dry season. When there is not too much 
water, it thrives on heavy soil, which should not be poor 
in lime. 

Planting. The potato tuber is not a root, but an under- 
ground stem. Its nodes are marked by the "eyes." 
Branches or new plants can grow from these, just as from 



STARCH PLANTS 



87 



the nodes of a maniok stem. The potato is propagated, 
therefore, by means of the tubers. It is best to select 
large, smooth ones. The 
tubers should be cut into 
pieces as large as a chico, 
and each piece must con- 
tain at least one eye. The 
ground must be soft to a 
depth of 20 cm or more ; 
large tubers cannot possi- 
bly be formed in hard 
ground. The potatoes or 
pieces are planted in rows 
60 cm apart, and placed 30 
cm apart in each row. Un- 
less the ground is very wet, 
they should be planted i 2 
cm deep, and covered by 
soft soil. 

Cultivation and Harvesting. As the plants grow, the 
soil must be cultivated frequently, to keep it soft and to 
keep down the weeds. After the tops become 20 cm 
or more high, some of the soil between the rows should be 
drawn around the plants. This is called "hilling" the 
plants. The leaves turn brown when the crop is mature. 

In the garden of the Normal School, good potatoes 
have been harvested 55 days after planting, the crop 
yielding 6 tons to the hektar. It would not be prof- 
itable to raise potatoes in the Philippines as a source of 




Fig. 67. Potatoes 



PHILIPPINE A GRICUL PURE 



starch ; but they are an excellent food, for which there is 
a o'ood local market. 



ARROWROOT 

Climate. Arrowroot is also a native of tropical Amer- 
ica, but it is now cultivated in all tropical and subtropical 

lands. Although a plant of 
warm countries, it can en- 
dure frost at about the time 
of harvest. Except when 
young and growing rapidly, 
it also endures drought, or 
dry weather, well. 

Culture. Arrowroot re- 
quires a fairly light soil, 
cultivated very deep and 
very fine. The starch of 
arrowroot is stored in rhi- 
zomes. A rhizome is an 
RG. b8. Arrowroot undcrgrouud stem which, 

instead of being a tuber, like the potato, is long and 
grows horizontally. About three months before plant- 
ing time, the largest rhizomes from the previous crop 
are planted in a seed bed. These produce numerous 
branches, which are ready to plant when as thick as a 
finger. These branches are planted like potatoes, but 
not hilled so high in cultivation. 

Harvesting. It takes almost a year for arrowroot to 
mature. The rhizomes are then dug up, being found 



i 


gg.,^ ' 


^n 


Tf' JR ^m\ 


\i 


J-- jNm' J 


'X.^v j/^ 


) mSBkI 


•^ \l^ 


^KBmll 


V 


Hr'-',' iMB 


y 


^^^^^^^^f 



STARCH PLANTS 89 

mostly at a depth of 30 to 45 cni. The arrowroot yields 
the highest jDriced starch, but it produces much less of 
it than do ])otato and maniok. 

If the useless j^art of the plant is left in the ground 
after the harvest, this crop will exhaust the soil very 
slowly. 

In what parts of plants is starch to l)e found? 

Name several starch plants that are to be foiuid in the Philippines. 
Which are the most important? 

^\'hat kind of soil does maniok require? 
How is maniok propagated ? 
For what are potatoes grown in the Philippines? 
What is a rhizome? 



CHAPTER XI 



MAIZE 



History of Maize. Maize is the name of a plant whose 
Latin name is Zca Mais, of the Q:rass family. The fruit 
of this plant is also called maize. Although little is known 



i> 








'*^!'" .»•'' 


-'^^w^BW 








W^^^s^W^^ 


■ 





Fig. 69. Field of maize under cultivation 

about where maize first orrew, it is doubtless a native of 
the mountainous part of tropical America. It has been 
very long in cultivation, and was the staple crop of the 
Indians as far north as New England when that country 
was first visited by Europeans. In America "corn," 
which originally meant any grain, is a commoner name 
than maize for this plant. Several hundred varieties of 
maize have been developed in cultivation. These fall 
mostly into six groups : husk maize, tooth maize, starch 

90 



MAIZE 



91 

The most 



y' 






maize, flint maize, sugar maize, and popeorn 
important group is starch maize. 

General Description. Maize is a great 
grass, whose height varies in different 
varieties from 60 cm to 6 meters. Ex- 
cept in the Chinese "tree corn," which 
is a variety of liusk maize, tlie stem is 
unl)ranched, or, rarely, is branclied near 
tlie l^ase. The leaves are alternate, in 
two rows. They are usually rough 
on the upper surface, but smooth be- 
low. In size they are 30 to 120 cm 
long, and 5 to 12 cm broad. 

Two Kinds of Inflorescences. I^xam- 
ine carefully the picture of the stalk 
of maize, and you will notice that it 
has two different clusters of flowers. 
Clusters of flowers such as these are 
called inflorescences. 

One cluster or inflorescence grows 
from the top of the stalk and forms 
the tassel. Since all these flowers 
have only stamens and no pistils, this cluster is called the 
staminate inflorescence. 

The flowers having the pistils grow in clusters along 
the side of the stalk in the axils of the leaves. These 
clusters are called the pistillate inflorescences. A stalk 
may have from one to three pistillate inflorescences. 

Each pistillate inflorescence is a stout stem, or axis, 




;. 70. Stalk of maize 
showing the staminate 
inflorescence at the top 
and three pistillate inflo- 
rescences in the leaf axils 



92 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



stigma 



style 



bearing usually eight to ten rows of flowers. Strictly 
speaking, the flowers are in pairs ; but the lower of each 
two flowers is very small and undeveloped, while the other 
is larger and apparently alone. The flower has a naked 

ovary, and an exceedingly long 
style. The styles form the corn 
silk. The whole inflorescence is 
inclosed by numerous bracts, 
which make up the husk. The 
silk comes out through the end 
of the husk. As the fruit ripens, 
the axis of the inflorescence be- 
comes the cob. Each grain of 
'"''y maize is really a fruit, the whole 
"ear" being composed of the cob 
and very many single fruits, or 
kernels. 

Pollination. Each flower of the 

staminate inflorescence has three 

Fig. 71. Diagram of ihe pistillate stamcus, wliosc autlicrs arc hung 

inflorescence i i.1 'in j • ^-1 „ 

by the middle, and sway ni the 
wind. The pollen is carried to the stigmas below chiefly 
by the wind, but insects sometimes carry some of it. A 
grain of pollen must fall on every stigma, for no ovary 
can become a grain of corn unless its stigma is pollinated 
(see Glossary). 

The wind scatters the pollen in every direction, and 
almost all of it falls on the ground. When maize is 
planted in large fields, the air fills with pollen, and almost 




ovary 



MAIZE 



93 



'<S?i 




every stigma is sure to receive some. But if a small 
number of plants are alone, or if they are scattered 
sparsely over tlie land, there will be so little pollen in the 
air that many stigmas will 
receive none of it ; then the J^|. 
p-rains will be scattered >■ ' ' 
over the cob instead of en- jf 
tirely covering it. \ 

Sterile Plants. In every 
field some plants bear nd 
ears. Plants that bear no 
fruit are called sterile. 
These plants are valueless. 
By scattering their pollen, 
these plants without ears 
have descendants, which 
inherit their sterility. In 
a field from which seed is to be taken, the top of every 
sterile plant should be removed before its pollen is scat- 
tered. In this way the sterile plants have been reduced 
in a single year from S.i i per cent to 3.44 per cent. 

How tall have you seen maize grow? How many ears have you 
ever seen on a stalk ? Which inflorescence appears first on the stalk? 
What is the color of maize "silk"? Why do some ears have only' few 
seeds? How many rows of seeds usually grow on a cob? 

Draw a stalk of maize showing inflorescences. 

Draw the flowers of maize, and name the parts. 

Uses of Maize. Maize is useful in several ways. When 
milk-ripe— that is, just before the grain hardens — it is 



Fit;. 72. Ear of maize inclosed in the husk, 
an ear with husk partly removed, and 
two cross sections 



94 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

cooked and eaten. At this time it is one of the most 
nourishing and digestible of all vegetables. When fully 
ripe, the grain is ground into meal and used as food. 
This also is very nourishing. 

Corn satisfies our need for nourishment more perfectly 
than rice does, because it contains more fat and more 
proteid, but not so much starch. The grain is used for 
the manufacture of starch. Maize is largely used in 
making alcoholic liquor and for other purposes. In 
America the fruit of maize is the most important food 
for beasts. The stalks and leaves are also fed to cattle, 
and are called fodder. 

Production. According to a rough estimate by the 
Department of Agriculture in Washington, the pro- 
duction of maize in the world is : 



Europe . 
Asia 
Africa . 
North America 
South America 
Australia 



350 million bushels 

I million bushels 

15 million bushels 

2300 million bushels 

225 million bushels 

10 million bushels 



A bushel of maize is 25.4 kilos. In most years the 
United States produces more than three fourths of all the 
maize in the world. This crop is worth 2,500,000,000 
pesos yearly to the American farmers. Maize is grown 
in all parts of the Philippines. It is most important in 
Cebu and the neighboring islands and in the Cagayan 
valley of Luzon. 



MAIZE 95 

CONDITIONS OF GROWTH 

Range of Climate. Maize ranks with tlie potato, and 
before tobacco, as a i)lant which grows under the widest 
range of chmatcs. In Canada it is profital^ly cuhivated 
as far north as 51°, and in the tropics it grows in Peru at 
an altitude of 3500 meters. Different varieties, of course, 
fit different chmates. Some varieties mature in so short 
a time as 75 days; many require 100 days, and some 
120 days. 

Corn matures most favorably during hot weather. 
There is no part of the Philippines whose climate is 
not suited to the growth of some varieties of maize. 
Maize requires much light, and will not thrive at all in 
the shade. Even a few days of cloudy weather check its 
growtli. 

Rainfall or Irrigation Essential. Showers are especially 
favorable to the growth of maize while it is still young. 
To produce a good crop, the roots must take up an 
amount of water equal to a layer 15 to 25 cm deep over 
the whole field. Of course they cannot do this unless 
the rainfall is much greater than this, or unless the field 
is irrigated. A rainfall of 30 to 60 cm is desirable dur- 
ing the growth of maize. Irrigation is very helpful, and 
in a moderately dry season has been found in Louisiana 
to increase the crop 100 per cent. 

The roots of maize go deeper into the ground than do 
those of any other common annual plant. Therefore 
they can draw water from deep in the ground, even as 



96 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

far down as 2 meters. But many of the roots grow near 
the surface, and the deeper roots alone cannot keep the 
plants well supplied. Because the roots go deep into 
the soil, and so loosen and open the deeper layers of 
earth, maize increases the water-holding power of the 
soil. It has been found in Dakota that in a wet sea- 
son wheat produces about as well on ground which 
produced wheat the year before as on ground which 
produced maize ; but in a dry season land which had pro- 
duced wheat the year before yielded only 5 bushels an 
acre, while wheat following maize yielded 24.6 bushels. 

The Soil Required. Maize demands a deep, and not 
exceedingly heavy, soil. It will never yield good crops 
where standing water comes nearly to the surface of the 
soil. Its soil must contain some sand. Maize should 
not be planted on very poor soil; because, while some 
plants will yield poor crops in such places, maize Vv'ill 
usually yield none at all. Maize takes much potash and 
phosphorus from the soil. It has been found in Alabama 
that by plowing under some leguminous crop, as beans 
or peas, the following crop of maize could be increased 
by at least 50 per cent and sometimes by 100 per cent. 
The plants of legumes contain the minerals that maize 
uses for food. 

Fertilizers. In an experiment in Cebu, well-cultivated 
plants yielded, without fertilizing, 38.12 hektoliters per 
hektar; fertilizing with manure and bone ash raised the 
yield to 57.32 hi. The average crop in Cebu, with 
ordinary cultivation, is only 10 hi. 



MAIZE 



97 



CULTURE 



The Seed. The first step in maize culture is to secure 
the best possible seed. As a general rule, seed should 
be froni plants grown under the same conditions as are 




Fig. 73. Several varieties of maize 

present where it is to be planted. If it is obtained from 
a great distance, it may be excellent seed, but not adapted 
to the local conditions. It should be well ripened on the 
parent stalk. 

Seeds should be taken only from plants with more 
than one ijood ear. (zood ears are laro-e, and covered to 
the end with regular rows of kernels ; and the kernels 
must fit closely together. In good ears, the grains have 
75 per cent to 90 per cent as much bulk as the cob. 

There is much difference between varieties of corn. 
In a test of 34 varieties in Indiana, it was found that 
there were differences of 33 days in the time needed for 



98 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

maturing, and differences of 44 busliels of maize and 3.5 
tons of fodder in the crop from i acre. An acre is 
about five twelfths of i hektar. 

In an experiment at Ilagan, the following yields were 
obtained : 

\\\X\\ yellow native maize, 2 2.8 hi per ha. 
With white native, 30.6 hi per ha. 
With horse-tooth, 41.2 hi per ha. 

Horse-tooth is the commonest European starchy 
variety. 




Fig. 74. Pliihppine plow 

Preparing the Soil. Before the maize is planted, the 

ground should be made clean and reasonably fine. On 

good maize soil very deep })lowing is unprofitable. The 

effect of plowing to different depths was tested in Illinois. 

On a part of the field which was worked shallowly with 

a disk-plow, but not turned over, the yield was 56.4 

bushels an acre. 

Plowed 5 cm deep, the yield was 59.9 bushels. 

Plowed 10 cm deep, the yield was 69.4 bushels. 

Plowed 15 cm deep, the yield was 69.3 bushels. 

Plowed 20 cm deep, the yield was 71.7 bushels. 

In this case it was unprofitable to plow more than 10 cm 
deep. But in an experiment in Cebu, very deep plowing 
(subsoiling) almost doubled the yield. 



MAIZE 



99 




1 I';. 75. Modern steam gang plow 



Preparing the Seed. Before seed is planted in a field, 
its germinating power should be tested by an experiment 
with 100 grains. This will show whether or not it is 
necessary to plant more than are wanted to grow. If 
many of the grains do not germinate, it is necessary to 
plant a larger amount of seed. Just before planting, the 
grain should be put for five minutes into water at a 
temperature of 55°. This will kill all fungus spores, and 
hasten the germination. 

Planting the Seed. On small fields the grain can be 
planted by hand, or with a hand planter; but except on 
small plots, it can be planted so much more rapidly and 



lOO 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



regularly with a seed drill that the latter method is the 
cheaper. 

The depth to which the grain should be planted de- 
pends upon the wetness of the soil, and the weather. 

When conditions are as they 
should be, it will germinate 
well and grow if planted 8 cm 
deep. In wet soil the plant- 
ins: should be shallower. If 
in very wet soil, the grain 
will germinate best if planted 
only 2 cm deep ; but maize 
so shallowly planted will not 
grow well. Therefore, it is 
best not to plant at all when 
the soil is very wet. 

Hills. IMaize is planted 
either in hills or drills. A hill 
is made up of several plants 
in a group ; it should be perfectly level with the rest of 
the ground, at the time of planting. When the seed is 
planted in hills on fairly good ground, the hills should 
be I meter apart. There should be 3 plants in each 
hill ; so pull out all plants above that number, letting the 
best ones stand. On poor ground, it may be better to 
put the hills farther apart; and on very rich ground there 
may be 4 plants in a hill. The hills should be in straight 
rows in both directions, if the land is level. If the land 
is very sloping, the hills should be in rows which keep 




ill., yo. i\iuiz(' m ine riiiiippiiir Aoi'- 
mal School garden — cultivated 



jMAIZE 



lOI 



,^ 









at the same level ; this keeps the soil from washing away 
badly, and makes cultivation easier. 

Drills. A drill is a nnv of single plants, at uniform 
distances apart. A machine which plants seed in this 

way is also called a drill. If 

maize is drilled into o'ood 
ground, the rows should be i 
meter apart, and the plants 
35 cm apart in each row. 
The directions just given are 
for planting maize for its fruit. 
If it is planted for fodder, the 
plants should be about one- 
third as far apart. 

Cultivation. It is very im- 
portant that maize should be 
cultivated the first time be- 
fore the ground has time to 
become hard, and before the 
weeds get well started; this will be while the maize is 
still very young. Figure ']'] shows a field left too long 
before its first cultivation. Maize does not require deep 
cultivation unless the soil is badly in need of airing. Five 
cm is usually better than a greater depth. Shallow culti- 
vation is not only easier, but it is likely to yield a 25 per 
cent larger crop than very deep cultivation. If the 
weather is dry, frequent shallow cultivation helps the soil 
to retain its water. 

In wet seasons, cultivation four times during^ the 



.. ,/. Maize in the Pliilip|)ine Nor- 
mal School ijaiden — neglected 



I02 rHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

season is likely to give the largest crop, but it is usually 
more profitable to cultivate only three times. An experi- 
ment in New Hampshire showed that the crop was : 

1 7.1 bushels per acre, without cultivation. 

69.7 bushels per acre, deeply cultivated, 5 times. 

7Q.I bushels per acre, shallowly cultivated, 5 times. 

80.6 bushels per acre, shallowly cultivated, 14 times. 

When the soil is first cultivated, it should be kept flat; 
but after the plants are a meter high, it is better to throw 
the soil up somewhat around them. Healthy maize 
grows most rapidly during the week or two after it is 
I meter high. At this time vigorous plants grow more 
than 10 cm in a day. 



CHAPTER XII 



RICE 



Characteristics. Rice is the name of a grass and of its 
fruit. The botanical name of this grass is Oryza satiia. 
Like all grasses, rice has very small 
flowers, but its flowers are unlike 
those of most grasses in having six 
stamens. Each rice plant has a 
cluster of shoots, springing together 
from the base, and growing upward 
close together. In size, the different 
varieties of rice are very unequal. 
Some of the rice in Pangasinan is 2 
meters in height; but the usual 
height is less than i meter. The 
roots arc very fine. 

History. Rice is a native of 
swamps, and grows in all the coun- 
tries from Australia across southern 
Asia to central Africa. It was first 
cultivated in India or southeastern 
Asia. It is not known how long ago 
it was first cultivated; but we do ^"^'^S' "'^^^i °f "'-^ 
know that it was introduced into China more than 4700 
years ago, and that it was cultivated in Babylon almost 

103 




I04 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

or quite as early. It was the staple cultivated crop of all 
the Malayan region before the time of Magellan. 

Varieties. There are more varieties of rice than of 
any other crop. In India alone, there are supposed to 
be more than a thousand kinds. There were 151 Philip- 
pine varieties in one exhibit at the Exposition of 1S95, '^^'^ 
Manila. American and Japanese rice are the best in the 
world ; of course there are many varieties in each of 
these countries. American rice sells in Europe at twice 
the price of Indian rice. 

Japan exports great quantities of her fine rice, and 
imports more still, at a much lower price. Therefore, 
by raising a superior variety, the Japanese can consume 
much more rice than they produce, without the added 
amounts costing them anything. Experiments have 
shown that at least one kind of Carolina rice will grow in 
Manila, and produce a better rice in a shorter time than 
any kind already grown here. 

Wild Rice. Wild rice, whether it is native or escaped 
from cultivation, is found wherever rice is cultivated. It 
always differs from the cultivated rice in having fruit 
which falls to the ground as soon as it is ripe. Also, the 
wild rice usually has long awns, or bristles, connected 
with the flowers; the shoots are prostrate rather than 
erect; and the leaf-sheaths are swollen up, and serve as 
floats when the water rises. 

When wild rice gets into a field with cultivated rice, 
its seed falls to the ground before the crop is gathered, 
and so is lost. Unless it is killed in some way, this wild 



RICE 



105 



rice seed grows the next season, and again sows its seed, 
and so keeps taking more and more room in the field. 
Because it thrives on exactly the same treatment as the 
cultivated rice, and looks much like it, but sows all its 
seed in the field, wild rice is by far the worst weed in 
rice fields. 

Production. Rice is a very important crop in all warm 
parts of the world except tropical America. Its greatest 
production is in southeastern Asia, and the greatest rice- 
exporting cities are Rangoon and Saigon. Java sup- 
ports its population of 30,000,000 chiefly on rice, and still 
exports a great deal. In the United States the produc- 
tion of rice is increasing very rapidly; Texas is the fore- 
most state in its production. 

In the Philippines, every province produces rice; 
Pangasinan, which in some years produces as much as 
four million pesos worth more than it uses, has the first 
place. Rice has been imported into the Philippines the 
most of the time for fifty years. 

Value and Uses. Rice is the staple or chief food of 
the people from the lowlands of India to Japan and 
Polynesia ; it is probably the staple food of more human 
beings than is any other one grain. A great deal of rice 
is also eaten in the other parts of the world. It is re- 
garded as an especially good staple food in hot countries, 
because it contains very little fat. 

The rice grain contains, besides the ash, about 12.8 
per cent of water; 78.3 per cent of starch; '].2) per cent of 
proteid; and 0.6 per cent of fat or oil. It is sometimes 



io6 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

used as a source of starch, but rice starch is neither 
the cheapest nor the finest. Rice is sometimes used 
as a medicine for dysentery ; and water in wliicli rice 
has been cooked is commonly used in tliis way. In 
most countries which produce it, rice is used in making 
alcoholic drinks. The straw has various uses, the most 
important of which is as a fertilizer on the fields where 
it grew. Rice straw also makes a fine paper, but it is 
not the source of most so-called rice paper. 

CONDITIONS OF GROWTH 

Heat. Different varieties of rice make very different 
demands on the climate. Most varieties require at least 
four months of hot weather, with an average temperature 
above 22°. Cold nights cannot be endured, even though 
the days be warm and bright. Some varieties require 
six months to mature, while a few poor ones mature in 
three months after planting. There are other varieties, 
of excellent quality, which endure a uniformly lower 
temperature; but these require a long season and very 
careful treatment, and so are an expensive crop. Rice is 
cultivated northward to 32° in America, and farther in 
Japan. Its upward limit in the Philippines is an altitude 
of about 1500 meters. No crop requires more light than 
rice ; it will endure no shading at all. 

Soil. If it is properly supplied with water, the quality 
of the soil makes less difference to rice than to most 
crops. It usually does best on rather light soils; but the 
soil must of course not be so .sandy as to be deficient in 



RICE 



107 




?'k;. 79. Terraced rice p.niih - '^! ';, !■ ,. . 

food for the plant. Pliosphorus is the food of which rice 
most often has too little. 

Water. With regard to its need of water, two sorts of 
rice are distinguished — upland rice and water rice. 
The upland rice thrives on soil which is light and well 
aired. It does not require wetter soil than other crops ; 
but it does require moist air. Where the air is dry, it 
produces so little fruit that it is better to plant some 
other kind of grain. 

The water rice requires more water than does any 
other important crop. This water is almost always sup- 
plied and regulated by irrigation. The ways in which 
the water is supplied, the times at which it is put on, and 
the length of time it is left, are very different in different 



Io8 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

places. Standing water is always left on the ground a 
considerable part of the time while the rice is growing. 
When the water gets too hot, or becomes full of harmful 
plants or animals, it must be run off. After the time of 
flowering, the fields are permitted to become dry. While 
the rice is ripening, dryness helps the maturing of the 
grain, and makes it easy to harvest it. Each plot or 
field of rice must be very level ; for otherwise the differ- 
ent parts will not be equally watered, and will not mature 
together. 

CULTURE 

Methods of Planting. Ground in which rice is to be 
planted must always be made thoroughly fine and 
smooth. It is not necessary that the ground should be 
worked especially deep, but no crop needs finer soil. 
There are three very different systems of planting rice : 
scattering or broadcasting the seed, drilling the seed, and 
transplanting. 

Broadcasting. Broadcasting is the Italian method of 
planting, and is used with upland rice in almost all 
countries. It is the experience of farmers in the Philip- 
pines, however, that water rice sown broadcast requires 
1 6 per cent more seed, and will yield at least 20 per cent 
less than could be obtained from the same ground by 
transplanting. 

Transplanting. Transplanting is known as the Chinese 
method of rice culture. It is in general use in the Philip- 
pines and throughout the Orient. The seeds are planted 
in thoroughly worked and enriched seed beds. This 



RICE 



109 



method of cultivation makes it possible for the rice to 
be germinating and growing while the paddies, or fields, 
are being prepared. But it can be used only on a small 
scale and where human labor is very cheap. 




I'h.. 80. Wijiiicn Ir.inspLinting rici' plant-, in tin; I'^ltuI lhuiiIin" 

The paddies are usually cultivated in the state of soft 
mud, which prevents the use of any beast except the 
carabao. Rice plants of the ordinary size are set in the 
paddies about 10 cm apart in each direction. 

Drilling. Drilling in the seed is the American method, 
first developed in South Carolina, and now used on a 
very large scale in Texas. Machines are used which 
plant the rice seed in straight rows, at uniform distances 
apart. Water is then turned on the fields and left until 



1 lO 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



the first leaves appear. The field is then left without 
water until the plants develop the second leaves, or 
sometimes until they are 20 cm in height, when the 
water is turned on again and renewed as often as neces- 
sary, perhaps once in 8 clays, until after flowering time. 




i I ly of threshing rice in t I 

This method of culture is very much cheaper than 
transplanting ; and, since but little rice fails to germinate, 
gives very nearly as large returns. American planters 
expect to harvest 80 grains for every grain planted. 
The large drilling machines used in Texas, which plant 
many rows at once, could not be used on the small pad- 
dies in the Philippines. But there are cheap hand drills 
which save a great deal of labor, and can be used on the 
smallest plots. 

Harvesting in Texas. The rice is also harvested in 
Texas by great machines, each cutting a strip several 
meters wide, and threshing and sacking it at the same 



RICE 



III 




'--.-. .:. ;.- . :........: ::i uic Philippines 

time. These machines are very expensive, and cannot 
be used on small fields, such as are found here. But it 
is possible in many places here to use threshing ma- 
chines after the rice is cut. One such machine can 
thresh all the rice in a large community. Every laborer 
in the Texas rice fields is paid three pesos a day, or 
more. And yet, by the use of machinery, rice is pro- 
duced there more cheaply than is possible in the Philip- 
pines. 



CHAPTER XIII 



SUGAR-CANE 



Sugar is obtained from many different plants, but two 
alone, the sugar beet, which grows in the temperate zones, 
and the sugar-cane, furnish all the sugar 
that is used as an article of commerce. 

Description of the Cane. The cane is 
a large grass, usually 2 or 3 meters, but 
sometimes as much as 6 meters, in 
height. The erect stems are 3 to 5 cm 
in thickness. Like all stems they are 
made of alternate nodes and internodes. 
At each node is a leaf, and in the leaf's 
axil is a bud, which is called an eye. 
Roots also can spring from the nodes, 
but do so only near the ground. 

The internodes vary in length in dif- 
ferent varieties of cane, from 5 to 7 cm to 
20 to 22 cm in length. Since it is in 
the fleshv internodes, not in the hard 
nodes, that the sugary sap is found, it is 
well for the internodes to be long. The 
internodes in the middle are longer than those near the 
ends. 

Besides the erect stems, there are underc^round stems, 




Fig. 83. Stalk of cane 
showing nodes and 
internodes 



SUGAR CANE I i 3 

which differ from tlic erect ones in having very short 
internodes. The erect stems do not usually branch, 
unless near the base, but the underground ones branch 
freely, and give rise to clusters of erect ones. 

The topmost internode sometimes grows out rapidly 
to a length of 90 to 120 cm, bearing at its top a panicle of 
flowers. Most of the cultivated varieties never flower, 
and those which do flower rarely bear any seed. The seed 
is never used to reproduce the plant, except for the sake 
of getting new varieties. 

History of the Plant. The botanical name of cane is 
Sacchaniin ojficiuaniui. The plant does not grow wild, 
and it is very probable that it is only a cultivated form 
of an uncultivated fjrass common in India and Malaya. 
This is Sacchamui spoutaiiciini, which is called talahib 
in Tagalog and tigbao in Bisayan. Tlie earliest cultiva- 
tion of cane was certainly in India, and was exceedingly 
ancient. The plant was introduced into China at least 
sixteen hundred years ago, and was grown all over the 
Malayan region before the arrival of Europeans. The 
Moors took it into Europe in the eighth century ; and 
the Spaniards took it to the West Indies in the six- 
teenth century. 

Varieties of Cane. The cultivated varieties of cane are 
exceedingly numerous, and the same ones have different 
names in different countries. Among the most impor- 
tant varieties are the following : 

I. Bourbon cane, also called Yellow Otaheite : This 
is a big, rich cane, usually straw-yellow in color. It 



114 I'lllUrPlNE AGRICULTURE 

is said to degenerate, or become j)oor, in long culti- 
vation; but this is probably due to l)ad treatment. 

2. Otaheite Ribbon cane, or Striped Tanna : This 
also is a rich cane, but the sugar is not always perfectly 
white. The internodes are yellowish, with bluish or 
purple strii^cs. This and the preceding variety are the 
most p()|)ular varieties in almost all countries, 

3. Java Transparent: This is a quick-growing cane, 
with internodes 10 to 20 cm long, which bear blood-red 
stripes. It is an excellent variety for light ground. 
Selangore is a similar or identical cane, common in 
Malaya. 

4. Black Java: This has j:)urplish or black inter- 
nodes S to 15 cm long; or, toward the toj), it may be 
striped. It endures bad treatment better than other 
canes, and produces a sweet saj). But the sap is not 
abundant, and the cane is too hard to mill \ery well. 

5. l^^lephant cane: There are several canes with this 
name, of which the Cochin China Elephant cane is the 
largest and best known. This wants a rich soil, and is 
too brittle to mill well. 

PRODUCTION 

Production in the World. The amount of cane sugar 
l)roduced in the world has been: 

YiAK Tons (iooo kilograms) 

1853 . . 1,260,400 

i860 . . 1,340,980 

1870 . . 1,740,493 



SUGAR-CANE 



115 



Year 
1880 
I 889 
1900 



Tons (iooo kilof:;iams) 
1,988,889 

2453'342 
3,350,000 



These fi^uivs do not show liow rapidly the use of 
sugar has iiiereased ; for the beet sugar i)r()dueed in 1878 
was only lialf as much as the cane sugar, l)ut was twice 
as nuicli as tlie cane sugar in 1900. The amounts ol 
cane sugar [)ro(hiccd in some places in 1900 were tliese: 



I'l All', 



'1V)N^ 



2 70,000 

85,000 
31 2,000 
600,000 
700,000 

65,000 

The sliglit pnxhiction in 



Louisiana 
Porto Rico . 
llawaii . 
Cuba 
Java 
Phili|)pines . 

Production in the Philippines. 

tlie Phili])pines was a result of war. Idie e.\|)oi'l from 
the Philippines at different limes has l)een : 

rKKinii Tons 

1852 to 1863 average 55,000 

1863 to 1872 . . 71,000 

1873 to 1882 . . 136,000 

1883 to 1892 . . 187,000 

1893 (the maxlmuin) . 262,000 

1898 .... 177,000 

1900 .... 65,000 

1902 .... 99,000 

1906 .... 123,790 



Il6 FHILIPFINE AGRICULTURE 

The foremost of the islands in the production of sugar 
is Negros, and the foremost province in Luzon for its 
production is Pampanga. The United .States consumes 
more than half of the cane sugar from the world's 
markets. 

CONDITIONS OY GROWTH 

Heat. Cane is distinctly a tropical plant. It grows 
north as far as 32° in the United States, and beyond 36° 
in Spain ; but its cultivation in these places would be 
unprofitable if it were not for protective tariffs, which 
enable those who grow it to get high prices for all they 
produce. Frost kills cane promptly. The temperature 
should be high and uniform. In the Philippines it grows 
at an altitude of at least 1200 meters, but it is not raised 
on a large scale except in the lowlands. 

Moisture. A moist air is usually regarded as very 
necessary for the vigorous growth of cane; and the cli- 
mate of tropical islands, because it is uniformly warni and 
moist, is said to be the best possible for sugar-cane. 
Unless the cane is irrigated, it will not reach its best de- 
velopment where the rainfall is less than 2 meters during 
the year, nor where there is any dry season while the 
cane is growing. A drought before the growth is com- 
plete, results in plants with little sap, which is poor in 
sugar. However, a dry season while the cane is matur- 
ing is advantageous, if the crop is gathered before it 
turns brown. 

Soil. Good sugar soil must contain abundant lime, ni- 
trogen, and phosphorus. It is possible for a soil to con- 



SUGAR-CANE 



117 



tain too much nitrogen, l^ut this very rarely happens. 
Some potassium must, of course, be present (see page 26) ; 
but too much potassium or sodium makes a soil bad for 
sugar. If a soil contains a little too much of these, some 
can be removed by growing maize on it for a )'ear or two. 
When sugar is grown for a long time on any plot of 
ground, it is likely to exhaust the lime. This 
has happened on some Philippine plantations. 
Semler, in his book on tropical agriculture, 
describes a soil from Camarines as the finest 
possible for sugar. 

CULTURE 

Propagation. Cane is always propagated on 
plantations in one way, by burying a part of 
a grown stem in the ground. This piece 
is usually laid horizontally, in well-broken 
ground, and buried under less than a deci- 
meter of soil. 

One method is to use whole stems for "seed," fi(;.84' Apex of 
and to lay them end to end in the rows ; but ^l^^^ ^ °q^"s 
this method w'astes a Q-reat deal of suijar. The ^"^ ^^^^ 
better way is to use only three nodes from the top of the 
cane, where the internodes are short and contain very 
little sugar. These tops are placed about Zo cm apart in 
the rows, and the rows are i meter to 1 20 cm apart. 
Small cane may be planted closer than this, and very 
large cane should be farther apart. The rows are 
sometimes made farther apart to permit cultivation by 




Il8 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

machinery. In the PhiHppines, cane is usually planted 
much more closely than this. 

Selection of Cane Seed. The cane used for "seed " should 
be selected from the most productive plants, and should 
always be the first year's growth from the planted cane. 
Because many planters do not select their " seed," their 
cane is not as good after a few years as at first. Any 
good cane will degenerate unless the seed-cane is carefully 
chosen. 

Cultivation. The young leaves appear above the 
ground within two weeks after planting, and it may be 
necessary to cultivate immediately. The amount of later 
cultivation needed by cane depends altogether on the 
conditions. Of course, the ground must be kept reason- 
ably soft and free from weeds. In most places it is suffi- 
cient if the cane is well cultivated twice within the first 
three or four months. 

Irrigation. The need of irrigation is likewise depend- 
ent on conditions. As a general rule it pays to irrigate 
cane wherever the annual rainfall is less than 2 meters, 
and also w^ierever the rainfall is not well distributed 
through the growing season. Although growing cane 
needs water constantly, it cannot endure standing water 
about its roots. In many places the same ground which 
is irrigated must also be well drained. The irrigating 
canals and drainage ditches may also be used to float the 
cut stems on boats or rafts to the mill. 

Maturing Cane. When growth is practically done, and 
the cane is maturing, the soil should become dry, both 



SUGAR-CANE 



119 



because dryness hastens maturing, and because unneces- 
sary water in the sap adds greatly to the cost of evaporat- 
ing it. Cane is mature when many leaves begin to turn 
yellow or brown. After this time the sugar decreases 
rapidly; and before this time there is considerable 
glucose present 
with the real cane 
sucfar. This o'lu- 
cose is a kind of 
sugar which not 
only will not itself 
crystallize when 
the sap is evapo- 
rated, butalsopre- 
vents the crystal- 
lization of an equal 
amount of the cane sugar. Sodium and potassium in the 
sap also interfere with the crystallization of the sugar. 

Ratoon Crops. Except under very favorable conditions, 
cane is not ready to cut until fourteen months after 
planting. After the erect stems are cut, a new crop will 
grow from the underground stems. This is called the 
first ratoon crop. Second and third ratoon crops can be 
raised in the same way. In Java and also in Pampanga, 
it is customary to replant the cane for each crop. In 
most countries it is planted about every third year ; but 
on one Hawaiian plantation cane was cut for nine years 
without replanting, and with excellent results. The 
ratoon crops usually mature within a year. 




Fu;. 85. Philippine sugar mill driven by water power 



120 



PHILIPPINE A GRICUL PURE 



Plan of Plantation. When two ratoons are used, a 
plantation should be divided into at least three parts. 
One of these is replanted each year, and the stem-tops 
of the preceding year's planting are available as seed. A 

still better arrangement is to 
divide the plantation into four 
parts, and let one part rest, or 
raise a different crop on it 
each year. 

Sugar Making. The cut 
cane, stripped of its leaves, is 
carried to the mill and 
crushed, and the sap is evapo- 
rated. The crushed stems 
are treated with water, and 
crushed again ; and some- 
times this is done a third 
time, and all the water 
squeezed out is evaporated. 
The sugar obtained in this 
way is crude, or coarse and 
brown, and must be refined 
to make the fine white granu- 
lated su2:ar in common use. 
Waste. Some sugar is always left in the stems of cane, 
and with poor machinery a great deal of sugar is lost 
in this way. The waste from the mill, left after the 
stems are crushed as dry as possible, is called bagasse. 
Bagasse is a good fertilizer, usually needing also only a 




Clump of cane in flower 



SUGAR-CANE 1 2 1 

little phosphorus and lime to keep up the full fertility 
of the soil. Bagasse is often used as a fuel to run the 
mill. The ashes are then used for a fertilizer. Nitrogen, 
phosphorus, and lime should be added to the ashes to 
keep the soil from becoming worn out. 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE COCONUT 

A Member of the Palm Family. The coconut belongs 
to the palm family of plants, which includes also the 
palma brava, betel nut, nipa, buri, and cabo negro. Its 
botanical name is Cocos luicifcra. There are about 
thirty-five other species in the genus Cocos, and all 
are natives of America. It is, therefore, almost certain 
that the coconut came from America ; but it was found 
in very ancient times on the tropical coasts of the Old 
World. The nuts often fall into the sea and float, and 
if they are thrown ashore before too long a time, they 





Fig. 87. Some things made from coconut shells 

can grow. In this way the plant can spread to new^ 
shores. 

Uses of the Coconut. The coconut is useful in more 
ways than any other tree in the world. The natives 
of Polynesia are said to use it in more than a hundred 
different ways. The most important commercial product 



THE COCONUT I23 

of this tree is copra, the dried meat of the fruit. The 
fiber of the husk, called coir, is another very valuable 
product. In the Philippines the leaves and trunk are 
used in building houses, the husks and shells for fuel, 
and the shells in making household utensils. There 
are still other local uses for various parts of the tree. 
The rich sap, fermented, is tuba. The oil obtained 
from copra has many local uses. 

The Roots. The roots of the coconut are exceedingly 
numerous; sometimes as manv a.s eiirht thousand irrow 
from the base of one trunk. They are all very slender 
and elastic. They grow only near the surface of the 
ground, and, in general, grow straight ahead in the 
direction in which they leave the stem. The longest are 
about 7 meters long in sand, or about 5 meters long- 
in firm soil. The root branches grow at riglit angles 
to the main roots. 

The plant is without really fibrous roots, and without 
root hairs. Only the youngest parts of the roots, just 
behind the tips, absorb water. The old parts are incased 
in a thick, hard shell, which prevents their losing the 
water absorbed by the young parts. The short, sharp, 
white roots scattered over the old ones are breathing- 
organs. 

The Trunk. The trunk of the coconut is very hard on 
the outside, but softer within. It is so tough that no or- 
dinary wind can break it. The trunk is enlarged at the 
base so as to have place for the attachment of its many 
roots. 



124 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



After the first few years, the stem does not increase in 
thickness, but it grows in height as long as it lives. It 
usually grows straight upward ; but if one side receives 

more light than the other, 
it bends toward the side 
most lighted. 

Leaves. An old, strong 
tree has twenty-five to 
thirty-five leaves, each 5 
to 7 meters long, with 
about eighty pairs of leaf- 
lets. The leaflets are 
folded downward. There 
is a hinge along each side 
of the midrib. When the 
leaf transpires faster than 
it can get water, the hinge 
causes the edges to fall 
and fold nearer together, 
and this checks the loss of 
water. Each leaf lives a 
Like the stem, the leaves 




Fig. 88. Coconut trees on the sea-shore, Pa- 
cific coast of Tayabas province, showing the 
enlarged base and numerous roots 



little less than two years 
are very tough. 

Flowers and Fruit. The flowers are borne in dense 
panicles, one panicle in the axil of each leaf. The 
flowers do not open until more than six months after the 
first appearance of the leaf in whose axil they grow. 
The staminate and pistillate flowers are distinct; and in 
each panicle the staminate flowers wither and fall off 



THE COCONUT 



125 



before the pistillate flowers are mature. The pollen is 
carried by insects. It takes nine months or more for 
the fruit to ripen. 

Describe fully the fruit of the 11^*' 
coconut. f^':'!'^''* 

]''ind the average weight of fiv-' ^"'' 
coconuts. 

What is the average weight ol 
the husks? 

What is the average weight of 
the fresh meat ? 

What part of this weight is lelt 
when the meat is air-ilried ? 




F'n;. 89. Fluwers and tr 



jiiut tree 



PRODUCTION 

The product of the 
coconut is marketed in so many forms that it cannot be 
measured in any one way. The comparative product 
can be judged, though, by the acreage. The number of 
hektars of coconuts in some lands in 1896 was : 



Ceylon 

India . 

Java and Sumatra 

Polynesia . 

South America . 

Central Ainerica 



2 7 1 ,000 
146,000 
92,000 
1 04,000 
208,000 
104,000 



According to the Census of 1903, the number of hek- 
tars of coconut plantations in the Philippines in 1902 
was 148,245. 



126 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

Coconuts and their products yield the chief exports 
from Ce3'lon, Polynesia, and a large part of Malaya, and 
are a very important crop of every tropical country. In 
the Philippines, the best coconut district is about the 
base of Mt. Banahao, in Laguna and Tayabas. Copra 
ranks third in value among the Philipj^ine exports, and 
is increasing in importance. 

CONDITIONS OF GROWTH 

Heat. The coconut is distinctly a plant of the torrid 
zone. It grows as far north as Florida and produces 
fruit, but not enough to be of any value. It must have 
a very uniform temperature, which must average about 
22'' for the year. An altitude of 500 meters is probably 
the highest limit of its profitable culture, even for local 
use, in the Philippines. 

In these islands the coconut is never injured by heat, 
how^ever great. In direct sunshine the leaves become 
much hotter than the air about them, and this greatly 
increases the transpiration. Once when the temperature 
at San Ramon was 28.3° in the shade, and 31.5° in the 
sun, that of a coconut leaf in the sun was -^^^^ . 

Light. The coconut needs much light, as well as a 
high temperature. Without more light than most 
plants need, it will bear but little fruit. The tree thrives 
best on the seashore, where it receives more light than 
in any other place. 

Tell, in figures, what effect the amount of light has on the production 
of nuts. The answer is given in Chapter V, Plants and Light. 



THE COCONUT 



\2J 



Moisture. Since it has no fine roots and no root 
hairs, the coconut cannot get tlie water it needs, except 
from a \erv moist soil. It needs a uniformly distributed 




I'u; 



Coconut gruvcs along the Dumaka Ri\.:, i .i\.i-a; iJiovince, with nipa at tlie 
water's edije 



rainfall of as much as 120 cm in the year; or else it must 
be irrigated ; or there must be more water in the ground 
than is due to the local rainfall. Along sea beaches 
there is always water in the ground, which flows slowly 
from higher land through the soil to the sea. Enough 
of this w^ater moves upward through loose soil so that 
trees in this situation are less injured by dry seasons 
than are trees anywhere else. 



128 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

Injury caused by Drought. A dry season injures the 
coconut for a longer time than it does any other crop 
which is not kihed by it. When the ground about the 
roots becomes dry, tlie roots cease to grow, and the ab- 
sorbing surface decreases. The resuUing loss of water 
promptly checks the growth of the young leaves, and of 
the branches which bear the n.uts. • It does not delay the 
ripening of the nuts ah'eady growing; therefore, it is nine 
months or more after a drought begins, before the crop 
is injured by it. 

When the rains begin after a drought, the roots begin 
to grow again; after they become active, the leaves can 
begin to be so. Since it is usually eighteen months from 
the first appearance of a leaf to the ripening of the nuts 
in its axil, the injury clone by a drought is not all shown 
until at least eighteen months after the drought ends. 

Dryness hurts the coconut in several ways which 
there is not time to study here. A bad dry season only 
as often as every other year will keep the crop down all 
the time to 40 per cent of what it ought to be. There- 
fore, coconuts cannot be grown profitably without irriga- 
tion, where very dry seasons occur. 

The Soil. While the coconut must have a moist soil, 
its roots will not grow into soil full of water; and if they 
are covered too long by water, they die. 

The coconut w^ill grow in poor soil, but it will produce 
few nuts there. It produces fine crops on poor beach 
soil, because the water which the roots take up has come 
through richer soil, and is well supplied with food. 



THE COCONUT 



129 



CULTURE 

Selection of Seeds. Coconuts to be used as seed should 
be picked from trees which are conspicuous among their 
neighbors growing under the same conditions for produc- 
ing large nuts, and many of them. There is no reason 







Fig. 91. Coconuts gemiinating in set-d bed 



for selecting seed from prolific trees which are prolific 
simply because they grow in especially good places ; for 
then the productiveness is not a character of the tree, but 
of the place, and the place cannot be inherited. It is 
best not to let the nuts of an especially good tree fall to 
the ground, because some of them will crack. Neither 
is it a good plan to select large nuts out of a pile; for a 
tree with very few nuts often has especially large ones. 

Germination. Coconut seed are germinated above 
ground and are not planted until the roots and plumule 
appear. Seed nuts may be hung up in bunches in wet 
weather or stacked under a shelter and watered; but the 



130 



PHILIPPINE A GRICUL JURE 



best and easiest method is usually to lay them on the 
ground in the shade. In dry weather, water must occa- 
sionally be thrown over them. The trees are likely to 
be more robust if the nuts are laid on their sides, instead 
of being stood on end. The young shoot will be more 




Fic,. 92. Husking cocomitb 

likely to be straight, if, where it is to come out, a little 
of the' outside of the husk be removed. Some nuts ger- 
minate within a month, others need four or five months. 

Planting and Cultivation. It is best to plant the nuts 
in their permanent places before the sprout is 50 cm 
high, and before they become fastened to the ground 
by a strong set of roots; otherwise breaking these roots 
will seriously check the growth. When they are planted, 
a part of the nut should be left above the ground. In 
lartre o-roves the trees oucjht not to be less than 8 meters 
apart. 

Cultivation, at least to the extent of keeping the ground 



THE COCONUT 



131 



clean, will pay for itself in the early maturing of the 
trees. 

The ground used for coconuts is often very poor, and 
should be enriched in every way possible. While the 
trees are young, other crops can be grown with the 
coconuts, but care 
must be taken not 
to make the ground 
poor in this way. 
Notches should not 
be cut in young 
trees; nor should 
they be deeper in 
the older trees than 
is really necessary. 

The Crop. Trees 
s o m e t i m e s b ear 
many nuts by the 
time they are five years old, and a good crop should be 
obtained in about seven years after planting. A tree 
ought never to bear less than 50 nuts in a year; and 
twice as large an average as this is possible. At San 
Ramon, 1000 nuts are expected to yield 5 piculs of 
copra; but in Laguna they do not yield more than 
3.5 piculs. After the nuts are cut, there is likely to be 
a slight increase in the oil, if they are not opened at once; 
but it is not safe to leave them more than one month. 

The Products. The work of opening the nuts and dry- 
ing the copra is too well known in the Philippines to need 




Fig. 93. Method of collecting liiha m bamboo cylinders 



132 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

description here. If the copra must be dried by fire in- 
stead of by the sunshine, it should be kept free from smoke. 
The collection of tuba is even better known in the Philip- 
pines than the making of copra. Coir is a valuable prod- 
uct which is usually wasted. It is a remarkably elastic 
fiber, but that of old nuts is very coarse and harsh. It 
must be extracted by machinery, and this cannot be done 
profitably on a small scale. 



CHAPTER XV 

FIBER PLANTS 

ABACA 



The Banana Family. Abaca is tlie name of a plant, 
Aliisa tcxlilis, and of the fiber extracted from this plant. 
Miisa is the banana genus, and abaca and banana plants 




Fig. 94. Field of abaca in Albay 

are very much alike. They have no very large roots, 
but many small ones, which do not run very deeply into 
the orround. There is a short, branching:, undertrround 
stem, but the real erect stems do not become tall until the 



134 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



plant is ready to blossom. Young erect shoots, or suck- 
ers, grow at all times from the underground stem, so that 
an old plant has ten to thirty shoots of all ages, in a 
cluster. 

What looks like a stem is made up of the leaf bases. 
These are broad and overlapping. They grow up, one 
inside another, until they make an apparent trunk 30 or 
40 cm in diameter. The real stem, which grows rapidly 
up through the middle of the false stem, is usually less 
than 8 cm in diameter, and contains no useful fibers. 
The flowers of abaca are borne in clusters on a thick 
axis. The clusters nearer the base bear the pistillate 
flowers ; they blossom before the staminate flowers open. 
The pollen is carried by insects. 

Abaca Fiber and its Uses. The fruit of abaca is smaller 
than that of most bananas, and contains many large seed. 
The fibers are found in the leaf bases which make up the 
false stem. In the outer part of each base, the fibers are 
more numerous, and their cells are much longer and 
thicker-walled than those of the inside fibers. The out- 
side fibers are therefore a great deal stronger. 

The principal use of the abaca fiber is in making cord- 
age ; for this use it is the best fiber produced in large 
quantities in the world. Abaca is very strong, but so 
light that it will float on water. For these reasons, the 
cordage used on ships in all countries is usually made of it. 

In the Philippines, the finest abaca is used in making 
cloth, most of which is called sinamay. Far more sina- 
may is made than any other cloth. Exceedingly strong 



FIBER PLANTS 



135 



and heavy cloth is made of abaca in some places. Abaca 
is also used to make paper. Some of this is coarse, and 
some is so fine that it is the only paper which can be 




Fk;. 95. Taking abaca fiber to niaiket 

used like silk, to wind the wires of induction coils. All 
paper made from abaca is very strong. In America and 
Europe, old, worn-out ropes made of abaca fiber are 
bought and used to make paper. 

Production and Export. Abaca is a monopoly of the 
Philippine Islands. It is native here, and all of it has 
always been grown here. Attempts have been made to 
introduce it into Borneo, India, and elsewhere, but in 
these places it has been found too expensive to cultivate, 



136 



PHILIPPINE A GRICUL TURK 



or the product has been of poor quaUty. Some abaca has 
been exported from the Phihppines for nearly a century. 
The following figures show the amounts (in tons) ex- 
ported in the years indicated : 



I8I8 


• 41 


1870 


31426 


IS25 


. 276 


1880 


50,482 


1840 . 


8,502 


1890 


67,864 


1850 . 


8,561 


1900 


89,438 


IS60 


30,38s 


1906 


110,399 



Since 1887 abaca has been the 
most valuable export every year ex- 
cept 1892 and 1893, when sugar 
held first place. Abaca is now more 
valuable than all other exports com- 
bined, being worth nearly fifty mil- 
lion pesos a year. The Census of 
1903 shows the following to be the 
f principal abaca-producing prov- 
\S inces, betjinnino: with the most im- 
portant : Leyte, Albay, Camarines, 
Samar, Misamis, Surigao, and Ta- 
yabas. Ladronism has since de- 
pri\ed Leyte of first place. Min- 
danao and Negros are rapidly 
increasing their production. 

Conditions of Growth. Abaca is 
a plant with enormous leaves, and 
roots which do not reach deeply into the ground. There- 




in;, (p. Primitive abaca press 
in Albay 



FIIIER PLANTS I 37 

fore, if tlie soil, or even the air, is dry, and the plant is ex- 
posed to strong light or wind, it transpires too rapidly, 
and wilts. Constant moisture of b()th soil and air is ab- 
solutely necessary to its successful j^roduction. Take the 
maps which show the rainfall in the Philippines, and you 
will see that the great abaca j^rovinces have a rather 
heavy rainfall, and no dry season. 

Shade. Where there is a moderately dry season, abaca 
can be protected against it by planting it in sheltered 
places, as in valleys and ravines, and hy the use of shade 
trees. These make cultivation difficult, and deprive the 
plant of light. Where there is moisture enough at all 
times, abaca can be grown on plains without shade; and 
then it will naturally grow more rapidly and produce more 
fiber than shaded plants can ever do. In Albay, 12 
piculs of fiber is regarded as the greatest production of 
a thousand shaded plants in a year; but in Davao, a 
crop of 16 and even 18 piculs is produced as the average 
from each thousand plants on whole plantations of trees 
grown without shade. 

Temperature. In the abaca [)rovinces the temperature 
is rather high and verv uniform. An average tempera- 
ture below 22° would probably not permit its thrifty 
growth. It is cultivated at altitudes as great as 1000 
meters; but it is much more productive near sea level, 
unless the climate is too dry there. 

Soil. Like other crops, abaca pays for rich soil by 
large crops. The soil must be moist. But it must also 
be well drained, for abaca roots die quickly if the soil 



138 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



becomes so full of water that they cannot breathe. The 
plants require much potassium; therefore, ashes are a 

good fertilizer. It is 
probable that abaca 
wants a soil rich in 
lime. 

Reproduction from 

Suckers. Abaca is 

reproduced chiefly 

by transplanting 

the young suckers 

which spring up around every 

plant. Old butts, from which 

the trunks have just been cut, 

can also be transplanted. 

Reproduction from Seed. 
Abaca can also be reproduced 
by seed. It requires a year 
longer for plants grown from 
seed to reach maturity; but in 
some places suckers are hard 
to get. If seeds are used, they 
must be from fruit which has 
not become overripe. The 
seeds should be washed well, 
soaked for several hours, and 
planted 2 cm deep and 15 cm 
apart, in rich, fine, shaded ground. In less than a year 
they are ready to be transplanted. Care should be 




Fig. 97. Bunch of abacd fruit 



FIBER PLANTS 1 39 

taken to get suckers or seeds from the best available 
abaca. 

Varieties. In every community there are several 
varieties in cultivation. The names of these varieties 
are mostly local. The varieties vary greatly in size, pro- 
ductiveness, ease of stripping, and in color, fineness, and 
strength of fiber. 

Shade Trees. \\ liere sliade trees must be used, those 
sliould be selected which will eitlicr produce something 
of value or which 
will improve the soil. 
Ilangilang, pili, and 
the various fruit trees 
are useful for their 

products. The leg- ^^^^^B^^^^BSI^F ^^1^^^- 
umes are the best to 
improve the soil. 

The trees must not ^"^"^S- Abaci fruit showing seeds 

only furnish shade, but they must also be strong enough 
not to break in the wind. Narra and ipil are legu- 
minous trees which produce valuable wood and are 
not easily broken by wind. Other strong legumes 
used in this way are madrecacao and tamarind. The 
dapdap has the best effect on the soil, because its 
wood decays quickly. Both the madrecacao and the 
common spiny dapdap lose their leaves in the driest sea- 
son, when the abaca most needs shade. There is a 
spineless form of dapdap which retains its leaves at all 
times, but it is less strong. It usually makes no seed, 




I40 



PHILIPPINE A GRICUL PURE 



and is reproduced by sticking branches into the 
ground. 

Cultivation. Wliere it can be done, the ground in 
which abaca is to be planted should be well plowed and 
cultivated. On ground which has just been cleared, this 
is impossible, but the ground around each plant must be 

made fine. The plants of the large 
kinds must, of course, be planted 
farther apart than those of the small 
ones. The plants of a variety 
o^rowino: to a moderate size should 
be at least 2 meters apart on open 
ground. They should always be in 
straight rows, so that they can be 
cultivated easily. 
I \\Y^ have already learned, in the 
^ chapter on Plants and Water (see 
page 42), how cultivation helps 
abaca to endure drought. It also 
makes it grow rapidly and mature 
early. Froni twenty to thirty 
months is usuallv the time between 
planting suckers and maturity. 
But well-cultivated abaca, the suckers being of only the 
usual size, has produced a large crop that matured in six- 
teen months. Abaca is mature when clusters of flowers 
appear, and must be cut before the fruit begins to ripen. 

Harvesting. When it is mature, the abaca stalk is cut 
just above the ground with a sharp bolo, making a cut 




I'Ij. 99. Removing the outer 
strips from the leaf stems 



FIBER PLANTS 



141 



surface which is sloping, not horizontal, in order that 

water shall not stand on it. The leaves are then cut off 

the stalk. The individual leaf bases are peeled off, one 

at a time, and the outer part of each is removed in strips. 

It is these strips from which the fiber is extracted, while 

the softer inner part of each leaf base is thrown away. 

It is not desirable, even if possible, to strip the whole 

leaf base, the inside 

with the outside, be- '■" 

cause the weaker fiber 

of the inner part will 

make the whole product 

weaker than it ought 

to be. All of the part^ 

thrown away in cutting 

the trunk and stripping 

the fiber are valuable a> 

fertilizers. 

Stripping. Stripping 
is almost always done 
by pulling the strip between a fixed block and a knife 
pressed against it by a spring. There are now several 
machines which will strip abaca; and except on small 
fields, stripping by hand will soon cease. It probably 
makes no difference whether the knives used are made 
of wood, copper, or iron, so long as they have perfectly 
smooth edges. With a rough edge, abaca can be stripped 
more easily, and the product is heavier; but such fiber is 
not clean, and it will not bring a high price. The sale of 




Fig. 100. Splitting abaca, before stripping 



142 



PHILIPPINE A GRICUL TURK 



a great deal of dirty abaca hurts the reputation and price 
of all abaca. 

Drying. After it is stripped, the fiber should be dried 
in the sun, as quickly as possible. The whitest fiber is 
made by the cleanest stripping and quickest drying. 




Fig. loi. Stripping abacd in Albay 

The characters of good abaca are : first, strength ; 
second, cleanness and lightness ; third, whiteness ; fourth, 
uniformity in length ; fifth, length. Fiber almost six 
meters long has been stripped in Mindanao. 

Use of Waste. The waste from stripping contains a 
great deal of fiber which is valuable for paper making. 
If much abaca is stripped in one place, it will be more 
convenient to get the waste together to sell ; but more 



FIBER PLANTS 



143 



of the plant's food will be returned to the soil, and so 
the latter will be kept richer, if the abaca is stripped and 
the waste scattered in the field. 




1 .1.. loj. l.;i \ ins: abaci fiber at San l<.i 



New shoots of abaca are constantly becoming mature 
in a field. It is usually found convenient to cut each 
part of a field about four times a year. 



MAGUEY 

Crops for Arid Lands. Almost all tropical plants re- 
quire rich, moist land, and thrive only with fairly damp 
air. F'or this reason dry ground is regarded as poor, 
and a dry climate as unfitted to agriculture. Since dry 
land is poor and consequently cheap, it is especially im- 
portant to know how it can be used. There are two 
Philippine crops which endure dry soil and air; these 



144 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



are maguey and pina. Both are raised here for their 
fiber, and produce the strongest fiber where the air and 
soil are not too moist. Both also have other uses. 




Fig. 103. Maguey plants 

Kinds of Agave. The plant called maguey in the 
Philippines is Agave cantiila. There are many species of 
Agave. All are natives of Mexico and Central America, 
but they now grow in all tropical countries. Most of 
the agave fiber is produced in Yucatan, from the species 
named Agave rigida ; it is called sisal. This plant has 
been introduced into the Philippines by the Bureau of 
Agriculture. The plant called maguey in Mexico is 
Agave americana, which produces a very poor fiber, but 
is grown to obtain a drink called pulque. When pulque 
is distilled, it makes mescal. The maguey of the Phil- 
ippines is cultivated in India also; but the Philippine 
fiber is better than the Indian. 

Planting and Cultivation. Maguey is usually propa- 



FIBER PLANTS 1 45 

gated by suckers, but sometimes by bulbils, which are 
branch buds fornied in the axils. These may be planted 
directly into the field, or kept for a year in seed beds. 
In the field the bulbils are usually planted a little more 
than one meter apart in each direction ; but it would be 
better to double this distance in places sheltered from 
the wind. 

When they are planted, and for the following two or 
three nionths, the soil should be well cultivated and 
moist. After this, the hard, spiny leaves make culti- 
vation impossible, and the plants are very little injured 
by drought. They will not grow in soil where the water 
stands near the surface. Dry air slightly retards the 
growth, but it slightly increases the fiber. A great deal 
of sunshine is especially beneficial. 

Yield. In the Philippines a maguey plant \ields 
hardly twenty leaves a year, each weighing 400 grams, 
of which 3 per cent to 4 per cent is fiber. The Yucatan 
sisal yields more leaves, each weighing one kilogram, 
and richer in fiber. 

The fiber is extracted by stripping or by retting. Un- 
less machines are used, the former is hard work. Excel- 
lent machines for cleaning sisal fiber have long been in 
use in Yucatan. Retting; consists in soakini^ the leaves 
until the softer parts can easily be removed. If soaked 
too long, the fiber is valueless. Drying must be as quick 
as possible. 

Describe the maguey plant fully and carefully. How old is maguey 
when it blossoms ? How often does a plant blossom ? How old is 



146 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



maguey before the first crop is produced ? What provinces produce 
much maguey ? Do these provinces produce much abaca ? Why ? 
How many pounds of fiber will i hektar of maguey produce if the plants 
are i meter apart ? Where is Yucatan ? 

PINEAPPLE 

The pineapple is a native of tropical America, but it 
is now found both cultivated and uncultivated in all 
tropical countries. Its botanical name is Auanassa sa- 




Fig. 104. Pineapple plants in fruit 

tiva. In most places it is raised for its fruit, and the 
fiber is relatively unimportant. There are fully one 
hundred varieties in cultivation, the fruit varying in 
weight when well grown from i to 15 kilos, and in color 
being purplish, scarlet, dark red, yellow, green, and white. 



FIBER PLANTS 1 47 

Propagation. Pineapples are propagated in four ways: 

1. B\- seed, taking from 10 to 12 years before maturity. 

2. By tlie fruit apex, taking from 2 to 5 years before 
maturity. 

3. By stem slioots, taking from 12 to 18 months 
before maturity. 

4. By "root" suckers, taking from 8 io 12 months be- 
fore maturity. 

Besides being slow, propagation l3y seed is uncertain, 
and some of the finest varieties are seedless. Nine to 
twenty shoots or suckers are formed by each mature 
plant, on the stem above and below the ground. All 
suckers which come from the stems below the surface of 
the ground are called "root " suckers. 

Planting. The young plants should be set out in the 
field in regular rows. They may be i meter ajDart in 
each direction; or, for convenience of cultivation, the 
rows may be 120 cm apart, and the plants 80 cm apart in 
each TOW. 

Pineapples for Fruit. When pineapples are raised for 
fruit, the soil must be deep, rich, and well cultivated, and 
never exceedingly dry. By good cultivation while they 
are young, pineapples which would not weigh more than 
2 kilos if uncultivated, can be made to grow to 10 kilos. 
While the fruit is maturing, dry air and bright sunshine 
are necessary to produce the finest odor and flavor. 
Dust is very injurious; therefore, they must not be cul- 
tivated except while young. Buds and suckers should 
not be allowed to form before the fruit ripens. 



148 



PHILIPPINE A GRICUL PURE 



Pineapples for Fiber. Pineapples can well be grown 
for fiber on poorer and drier ground, and cultivation is 
then less necessary. In no case will this plant grow in 
ground where water stands. The soil must be rich in 
lime ; and the plant is not injured by much clay. 

Describe a pineapple plant, and draw it. What parts of the plant 
make up the fruit ? For what purposes is the fiber used ? 

OTHER FIBER PLAxNTS 

Cotton. The most important of the fibers in the world 
is cotton. Little cotton is raised in the Philippines, ex- 
cept in Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, and Union. The cot- 
ton genus is Gossypium, and at least four species are 




Fig. 105. Cotton field in the United States, showing cotton-picking machine 

sources of valuable fiber; these species have become 
very mixed through cultivation. All of them were prob- 
ably naturally perennial. The most valuable cottons are 



FIBER PLANTS I49 

Sea Island and Egyptian, but they are not the most pro- 
ductive kinds. 

Cultivation and Uses. Cotton will grow well in most 
soils which are not exceedingly wet or shallow. Much 
lime improves the soil. The commonest cotton is a 
small bush. Its seed are sown in rows a meter apart. 
Many seeds are planted, and the young plants are after- 
ward thinned out to about 80 cm apart. Fine weather 
is necessary for the ripening and harvesting of the crop. 
The seeds are valuable for the oil they contain. The 
fibers are hairs on the seed. 

Of what use to ])lants are the hairs of the seed? In what forms is 
cotton imported into the Phihppines? 

Kapok. The kapok, or silk-cotton tree, is a large tree, 
common in towns in the Philippines. Its fiber, like that 
of cotton, consists of tufts of hair; these are not borne on 
the seed, but the seed is embedded in thcni. Its fiber is 
too cm-ly to be used in making cloth; but it is excellent 
for stufting pillows, and for similar uses. 

Jute, Rattan, etc. There are many other Philippine 
plants whose fibers have some value. Among these are 
jute, a weed in many of the towns; ramie, a wild bush; 
bow-string hemp, wliich is often planted for ornament 
along streets and walks; and the various kinds of rattan, 
or bejuco. The fiber of the coconut husk is spoken of 
in another chapter. Good paper can be made of cogon, 
bamboo, and many other Philippine plants. 



CHAPTER XVI 

TOBACCO 

History. Tobacco is the plant known botanically as 
Nicotiaiia Tabaciini. It belongs, with the tomato and 
eggplant, in the potato family. It is a native of Amer- 
ica, and probably of the warmer parts of that conti- 
nent, but was found in cultivation as far north as Vir- 
ginia by the European discoverers. There are about 
fifty other species of A^icotiaiia. Of these, only one, 
that which produces the Syrian tobacco, has any agri- 
cultural importance. 

The Tobacco Plant. The common tobacco has a Q[lan- 
dular stem i to 2 meters in height, which becomes 
woody as the plant matures. The stem branches freely 
from the axils; and as it matures it sends up fresh 
branches from the base. The prompt removal of all 
branches, as they start to grow, not only strengthens the 
leaves and liastens their maturity, but is said to make 
them lighter in color. 

The stem bears from eight to twenty leaves on very 
short petioles. The larger leaves are 35 to 50 cm long, 
and 7 to 15 cm broad. On the leaves are two kinds of 
glandular hairs — long ones, made of several cells, and 
others only one cell long. Many kinds of leaves are 

150 



TOBACCO 



151 



used to adulterate tobacco, but not one of these has the 
two kinds of hairs. -* , 







^ '-^ 



l'"i(;. 106. Flower of the tobaeco plant 



The flowers are borne in a loose cluster at the top of 
the stem. Flowering lasts about two weeks. The fruit 
is a small, pointed capsule, containing a great many very 
small seeds. 

Nicotine. The plant contains several peculiar sub- 
stances, among which is a poison named nicotine. It: 
is this substance w^hich produces the physiological 
effects of tobacco. As a general rule, the varieties of 
tobacco with the most and finest aroma contaiii the 
least nicotine. Therefore, the most valuable tobaccos 
are usually the least injurious. However, there are 
many exceptions to this rule. 



152 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

Taxation on Tobacco. Aside from a very limited me- 
dicinal use, tobacco is altogether a luxury. It is the 
most important crop in the world which is not valuable 
as food or clothing. It is chewed and snuffed, and 
smoked in pipes, cigarettes, and cigars. 

Because it is an article of luxury, tobacco is usually 
handled at a large profit. Most countries tax it very 
heavily, and some make it a government monopoly. 
It was a monopoly in the Philippines from 1781 to 
1882, the whole tobacco business belonging to the gov- 
ernment during this time. In 1882, the profit on this 
business paid lialf of all the expenses of the govern- 
ment. In the United States the government taxes the 
tobacco business in several ways ; the internal revenue 
tax on it amounts to more than one hundred million 
pesos a year. 

PRODUCTION 

Production in the World. The foremost country in the 
production of tobacco is the United States, the yearly 
crop there being more than two hundred thousand tons. 
All of Europe produces hardly so much; Russia and 
Hungary produce more than the other European coun- 
tries. India produces almost as much tobacco as the 
United States. Turkey raises over thirty thousand tons, 
the Dutch East Indies about as much, and Japan nearly 
twenty-five thousand tons. Cuba, the Philippines, and 
Brazil are the other important countries. 

Production in the Philippines. The export of tobacco 
from the Philippines at different times has been, in tons: 



TOBACCO 153 

1854 . . . 4205 18S4 , . . 2047 
1864 . . . 2804 1885 . . . 6804 
1874 . . . 4542 1895 . . . 11,382 

1902 91 6 1 

The export of 1874 was the most vahiable of these, 
being worth 6,954,000 pesos. PhiHppine tobacco is very 
largely made into cigars and cigarettes. 

Tlie foremost tobacco-raising province, both in quan- 
tity and cjuaHty, is Isabela. In the amount produced, it 
is followed by Union, Cagayan, Cebu, Pangasinan, and 
Ilocos Norte. The raising of tobacco was prohibited in 
some parts of the Islands by the Spanish government. 
This furnished a local market, and made it easier to 
keep up the grade of the tobacco. 

CONDITIONS OF GROWTH 

Heat. Tobacco is like the potato and maize in being 
a tropical plant which will grow in a large part of the 
temperate zones. This is not because the plant endures 
low temperatures, for frost is fatal to it, but because it 
can grow and mature its fruit in the few months of the 
Northern summer. Coffee endures a lower temperature 
than any of these plants, but can be cultivated only in 
the tropics. Tobacco grows as far north as Minnesota, 
and even in Canada and in Sweden. 

Moisture. A fine quality of tobacco cannot be pro- 
duced where the air is verv drv. On the other hand, 
there must be no very heavy rain while the leaves are 
maturing, or while they are being dried. Heavy rain 



154 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

sometimes tears the leaves or makes them rot, and 
always gives them a coarse texture with prominent ribs. 
Too dry air causes the pores of the leaves to become 
permanently shut, and it is then impossible to cure the 
tobacco well. 

The parts of the Philippines with a dry season which 
is moderately dry, and during which there may be 
showers but no long rains, have an excellent climate 
for tobacco. The air is rarely dry enough to be irjjuri- 
ous, and never is so if the fields are irrigated. Except 
so close to the shore that the winds are salt, sea air is 
very favorable to tobacco. In islands no larger than the 
Philippines the air in most places carries the moisture 
from the sea. 

Soil. There is no other Philippine crop whose quality 
depends so much on the soil as tobacco. Its soil must 
never be a very heavy clay ; and, unless well drained, it 
must be rather light. The color of the leaves depends 
largely on the color of the soil ; so that on light-colored, 
sandy soils light tobacco is raised, and dark tobacco 
grows on dark loam or mold soils. 

Tobacco leaves contain more ash than is found in any 
other of our crops. Therefore they make poor the 
ground where they grow more rapidly than any other 
crop does. Like all plants, tobacco must have lime and 
nitrogen, but a soil very rich in either of these is bad for 
it. Lime keeps the leaves from burning well, and much 
nitrogen makes the leaves too rich in nicotine. A good 
sugar soil is the worst soil for tobacco. Potash has the 



TOBACCO 



155 



opposite effect to lime, and must therefore be abundant 
in the best tobacco soils. Iron causes the red color of 
"Colorado" tobacco, and it is usually desired that 
tobacco soils contain much of it. The soil in many 
places in the Philippines is very rich in iron. 

CULTURE 

Selection of Seed. Poor tobacco can be raised without 
work anywhere in the Philippines, but it cannot be sold. 
There is no other crop whose value is so dependent on 
the quality. The tobacco good enough to be exported 
from Cuba and Sumatra ranges in price from 15 centavos 
to 7 pesos a kilo. 




Fig. 107. A wcU-cuhivatcJ lubacco field in the 1,'nitcd States 

The first step toward raising fine tobacco is getting 



the seed of fine tobacco. 



No other single thing has 



156 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

done so much to give Sumatra tobacco its excellent rep- 
utation as the care of the Dutch government that no 
poor seed shall be planted. The Spanish government 
did the same work here during the tobacco monopoly, 
and the deterioration of Philippine tobacco since that 
time has been largely due to the use of much unselected 
seed. Sumatra tobacco came originally from Havana 
seed; and many planters in the United States, in South 
America, and even in Russia, now get their seed from 
Cuba every year. The highest-priced tobaccos are now 
raised in Cuba, Sumatra, and Turkey. 

Seed Beds. Tobacco seed is usually planted in seed 
beds. In the Philippines the seeds are likely to be stolen 
by ants, and where this is the case, it is best to plant it 
in boxes which ants cannot reach. Some planters use a 
large quantity of seed in seed beds on the ground, and 
trust that the ants will leave some of it ; but seed so poor 
that it can be fed to ants ought not to be planted. 

In the seed bed the soil should be very light and ex- 
ceedingly fine. Ashes and horse manure are good fer- 
tilizers for the seed bed. The seeds must be planted 
shallowly, because they are very small. If they are sown 
broadcast, a teaspoonful is enough for 20 square meters 
of bed. The seeds will be more uniformly scattered if 
they are thoroughly mixed with 5 teaspoonfuls of fine 
ashes, before they are sown. 

A better method than broadcasting the seed is plant- 
ing them with a hand drill. If they are drilled in, they 
should be in rows 10 cm apart, and placed 4 cm apart 



TOBACCO 157 

in the rows. The bed can be covered Hghtly with coarse 
grass until the first leaves appear, and ought not to need 
watering. After heavy rain, the grass must be renewed. 

Transplanting. Tobacco should be transplanted when 
it has four or five leaves the size of a peso. The ground 
prepared for the plants must have been very thoroughly 
cultivated. The easiest way is to plant them on level, 
flat ground ; but it is usually better to raise each plant, 
putting it in a little hill, or to plant them in rows along 
low ridges. If the hills or rows are too high, the ground 
will be likely to become too dry. A proper distance 
between plants is 75 cm in each direction. They will 
produce larger leaves if planted 90 cm apart, but the 
leaves will be coarser in texture and less mild. 

If some plants are injured in transplanting, they should 
be replaced at once, even if they are not dead, for injured 
plants grow slowly, and the crop should be matured 
as rapidly as possible. The longer the crop is in grow- 
ing, the more likely it is to be destroyed, by storms or 
otherwise. The finest leaves are those which grow most 
rapidly. It is well worth the extra work to transplant 
a block of earth with each plant so as to disturb the 
roots as little as possible. The plants must be set into 
the ground just as deeply after transplanting as they 
were in the seed bed. 

Cultivation. As soon after transplanting as the roots 
are well fixed in the new ground, which should be in not 
longer than one week, the ground should be well loos- 
ened with a cultivator or hoes. If this first cultivation 



158 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



is delayed, it will be bad for the growth of the crop. For 
four weeks after this, the ground should be cultivated 
each week. 

Removal of Tops and Leaves. At about the time when 
the first blossoms open, or a little later than this, the top 
of the plant should be removed, as well as the lowest 
leaves, which are usually unsound or dirty. The number 
of leaves that should be left on the plant depends on its 
size and strength, and on how high a price can be ob- 
tained for finer leaves. Ten is a good number to leave, 
and twelve should be the maximum. 

If some of the finest plants are 
to furnish seed, the tops of these, of 
course, must not be removed. From 
the time when the tops are cut, the 
branches begin to grow, and must be 
nipped as they appear, before they 
bear any flowers. 

Harvesting. Tobacco should be 
ready to harvest about ten weeks after 
it is transplanted. Before it is ready 
the leaves wilt and hang down, their 
green color fades, and they become 
spotted with brown or yellow; they 
lose their fresh texture and begin to 
crumple, and suckers begin to grow 
after top and lowest from tlic basc of thc plant. The 

leaves are removed i j i i i i i rr ^ 

plant should then be cut ofi and 
hung in a well- ventilated building. 




Flo. io8. Tobacco plant 



TOBACCO 159 

Witli tlic IjL'st and the most perfect cultivation, good 
tol^acco can be produced only by proper curing of the 
crop. But the curing is too complicated a process, and 
too dependent on local conditions and also on the way 
in which the tobacco is to be used, to be described here. 

Descril)e the insects attacking tobacco where you live. How are these 
insects fought? 

How is tobacco cured in your town? 
Where is Havana ? 



CHAPTER XVII 



COFFEE 

Species. Almost all of the coffee of the world is the 
product of one species of tree, Coffca arabica. A small 

amount is also produced 
by Coffca liberica and by 
hybrids between the twc 
species. 

Coffca arabica is a small 
tree, rarely more than 5 
meters high, with oppo- 
site, simple, entire, smooth 
and shinino^, everorreen 
leaves, 8 to 12 cm long. 
The flowers are borne in 
axillary clusters. 

Coffca liberica is a 
larger tree, with leaves 20 
to 30 cm long, and larger 
fruit than Arabian coffee. 
It has an inferior fiavor, 
and has come into cultivation only since the coffee rust 
made the culture of Coffca arabica a risky business in 
Ceylon and Java. 

160 




Fk;. 109. Coffee fruit 



COFFEE l6l 

Cqffca arabica is a native of the mountains of eastern 
Africa, from Abyssinia to Mozambique ; it has also been 
found wild in Angola. It is called Arabian coffee be- 
cause it was first introduced to the rest of the world by 
the Arabs, and was first cultivated as an article of com- 
merce with Europe, in Arabia. 

PRODUCTION 

Total Exports. Figures on the amount of coffee pro- 
duced are not very accurate, because we do not know how 
much is consumed in the countries which produce it, but 
only how much they export to Europe and the United 
States. However, it is easy to see how rapidly the 
industry has grown. The number of tons exported from 
the countries of the world has been : 

1832 .... 96,000 1S75 .... 513,000 

1844 .... 259,000 1 88 1 . . . . 598,000 

1855 .... 326,000 1891 .... 558,000 

1865 .... 428,000 1899 .... 802,000 

The amount is now more than a million tons. Of this 
Brazil produces one half, and the rest of America one 
fourth. The Dutch East Indies produce a large part of 
the coffee of the Old World, followed by India, Madagas- 
car, West Africa, Ceylon, Arabia, etc., and the Philippines. 

The United States consumes about one half of the 
coffee, followed by Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, 
and England. 



1 62 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

Production in the Philippines. A few coffee plants seem 
to have been cultivated in the old Manila botanical gar- 
den more than a hundred years ago. In 1837 the Socie- 
dad Econdmica awarded a prize of 1000 pesos to a man 
who was supposed to have 60,000 bearing trees. Jagor, 
a German traveler who visited the Philippines in 1S59 
and i860, wrote: "The coffee plant thrives won- 
derfully, and its berry has so strongly marked a flavor 
that the worst Manila coffee commands as high a price 
as the best Java." 

The coffee exported from the Philippines is still of an 
exceedingly fine quality. The amounts exported have 
been, in tons : 

1856 500 

1871 3500 

1874 2150 

1879 4195 

1883 4560 

1894 ..... . 603 

1895 180 (from Manila only) 

Important Coffee Districts. Of the Christian provinces, 
Batangas has been foremost in coffee production; its 
chief center was Lipa. Second in importance was the 
highland part of Cavite, near Indang. At the time of the 
great Philippine export of coffee it was almost entirely 
fiu'nished by these two provinces. It must be twenty-five 
or thirty years since coffee was introduced into northern 
Luzon. The greatest production of this district was 



COFFEE 163 

about 1S90, but tlic yield is now important and 
srovvino'. 

It is not known wlien coffee was introduced into tlie 
Moro country, but ii: was surely long ago. The Lanao 
district is probably the chief source of Moro coffee. Min- 
danao now exports more coffee than Luzon. In all parts 
of the Philippines some coffee is raised for local use, but 
none is exported except from the parts already named. 
Liberian coffee has been cultivated for several years near 
San Jose, Batangas, but as yet without much profit. 

CONDITIONS OF GROWTH 

Temperature. Coffee is a tropical plant ; but since it is 
likewise a mountain plant, it does not need a high tem- 
perature, and does not thrive where it is very hot. The 
coffee plant is very healthy, although it does not grow 
very rapidly, where the temperature is uniform and aver- 
ages lower than 20° throughout the year. It even endures 
light frosts. Liberian coffee requires greater heat. It 
would perhaps thrive at sea level in the Philippines, and 
in places where Arabian coffee grows, Liberian should 
not be shaded. 

Moisture. Coffee is naturally a forest plant, and requires 
a constantly moist air. This can be provided by shading 
the plants, where the climate is too dry or slightly too 
warm for them to endure the sunshine. 

We know that the moistness of the climate increases 
with the altitude. The lowest good coffee country in the 
Philippines is the highlands of Batangas and Cavite, at 



1 64 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

an altitude of about 400 meters. The Moro coffee is 
raised mostly at above 700 meters. In northern Luzon, 
the finest coffee is raised in Balili, Kabayan, Daklan, and 
Sagada at altitudes above 1500 meters. In these places 
it is so cool and moist that coffee requires no shade. 
Moreover, the low temperature is bad for the rust ; so 
that it is possible to raise a crop of good coffee in these 
places as often as once in two years, even though the rust 
is not fought in any way whatever. 

Coffee likes also still air; because wind, like heat and 
dryness, hastens the transpiration. The same trees 
which furnish shade break the wind. The trees used to 
shade coffee are the same ones used for abaca, usually 
dapdap and madrecacao. 

Soil. Coffee demands a fairly rich, deep soil, for its 
taproot descends 2 or 3 meters. Volcanic soil, whether 
formed from lava, or from showers of ashes, is excellent 
for coffee. After an eruption of Taal which covered the 
plantations of Cavite with ashes, the coffee bore such 
crops as never before. And twice within recent years 
there have been showers of volcanic ashes in Guatemala 
which seemed to destroy the near-by plantations ; but 
each eruption was followed by an unusually heavy coffee 
crop. 

CULTURE 

The Seed. Coffee is always reproduced by seed. The 
seed to be planted should always be picked from the 
best trees. It is very unwise to propagate coffee by 
transplanting the young trees found in the orchard, for 



COFFEE 



165 



these usually grow from seed which fell too early, and 
so were lost in the picking. The trees which grow from 
these seed will probably also shed many seed as they 
ripen, and this is very undesirable. 

The seed can be planted in bamboo tubes, or in seed 
beds. If seed l^eds are used, thev should Idc of rich soil. 




Fic;. no. Coffee plantation in Brazil 

made very fine and soft to a depth of at least 25 cm. 
The seed may be planted 2 cm deep, and 15 cm apart in 
each direction. The seed bed must be kept moist, and 
this is usually impossible unless it is kept shaded. Coffee 
seed is very slow to germinate, sometimes taking more 
than two months. During this time and until the young 
trees are transplanted, the beds must be kept free of 
weeds. 



i66 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



Transplanting. Tlie trees are transplanted early in the 
rainy season, when they should be six months or more 
old. The taproot must not be broken or cut, for this is 
likely to injure the tree permanently. The trees might 




III. Drying coffee in Benguet 



be left another year in the seed beds, if planted 25 cm 
apart; but it is more difficult to transplant these larger 
trees without injury. No trees which are weak or un- 
sound in any respect should be transplanted. 

WHiere trees are to be planted, it is a good practice to 
dig a hole 40 cm wide and deep, and to fill it around 
and under the tree with rich earth. Two meters in each 
direction is a good distance between trees. In Ceylon 
they are planted closer together than this, and kept 
trimmed very short; while in Brazil they are 3 or 4 
meters apart, and* not trimmed at all. 



COFFEE \C:)J 

Care of the Trees. The Philippine coffee is usually 
rather small ; and it is advisable not to let it grow more 
than 2 meters in height. At that height it is easy to 
pick the fruit, and the trees can be s[)rayed to guard 
against the coffee rust, without a great waste of the Bor- 
deaux mixture. As has already been explained in the 
chapter on })lant diseases, a coffee plantation must be 
kept clean of dead leaves and branches, as a protection 
ao-ainst rust and insects. 

O 

Coffee is likely to bear a good crop when four years 
old, and to bear every year for more than a decade. The 
methods of handling the crop are very different in differ- 
ent countries. 



CHAPTER XVIII 



CACAO 



The Cacao Plant. 




Fig. 112. 



Cacao is the name of a plant, Theo- 
broma Cacao, and of 
some of the products 
obtained from its seed. 
Chocolate, which also 
is yielded by these 
seed, contains more 
oil than does cacao. 
The tree is a native of 
tropical America. It 
must have been in cul- 
tivation fora long time 
before the Spanish dis- 
covered America, for 
it uas then found all 
the way from Mexico 
to southern Brazil. In 
the same region are 
more than twenty 
other trees in the same 
o^enus ; the seed of 



Healthy young cacao tree in the 
Philippines 

some of these is sometimes collected and mixed with 
real cacao. 

i68 



CACAO 169 

Production. Some cacao is now raised in all tropical 
countries. The foremost country in the amount produced 
is Ecuador, but Venezuela is foremost in quality. The 
Philippines and Ceylon have been the chief sources of 
cacao in the Old World. The mountainous little island 
of Maripipi produced in Spanish times the finest cacao in 
the world, — so fine that it sold for a peso a liter, or almost 
twice the best market price of Venezuela cacao. 

Uses. The chief use of cacao is in making drinks, cocoa 
or cacao, and chocolate; but a great deal is also used in 
candy and pastry, and as a solid food. Mountaineers 
and explorers carry sweet chocolate, because they believe 
that it is the most convenient and valuable of all foods, in 
proportion to its weight and bulk. 

Description. Cacao is a small tree, usually reaching a 
height of about 7 meters and a diameter of about 10 cm. 
The flowers are clustered on dwarfed branches, on the 
trunk and leafless limbs. As a rule, only about one 
tenth of the flowers produce fruit. The average number 
of fruit on a tree is twenty or thirty, though some trees 
produce many more. 

Describe a leaf of cacao. How does it differ from that of coffee? 
Describe the flower, and illustrate all parts. 

The fruit is 10 to 15 cm long, and half as thick, with 
ten lengthwise furrows. In the Philippines it is usually 
red before it is ripe, and afterwards becomes brown. It 
usualh' contains as many as forty reddish or brownish 
seeds, each of which is composed almost entirely of the 
two fleshy cotyledons. 



lyo PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

CONDITIONS OF GROWTH 

Climate. Cacao demands more warmth and more mois- 
ture than does coffee. It wiU not produce large crops 
where the annual rainfall is much less than 2 meters, 
nor where there is a severe dry season. However, if the 
rain is too little, it can be made up in part by irrigation, 
witli equally good results. The average yearly tempera- 
ture must be at least 22°, and may well be higher. Strong 
winds do great damage, both by increasing the transpira- 
tion, and by shaking off the fruit. 

Soil. Since this tree has a taproot, it will not be very 
thrifty in soil less than i meter deep. It will endure 
standing water in or over tlie ground longer than most 
cultivated crops; but, like other crops, it is more healthy 
and productive on well-drained soil. It is sometimes 
possible to kill its insect enemies by drowning them. 

A good soil for cacao must be reasonably rich in lime ; 
one half of i per cent is necessary for a fair crop, and i \ 
per cent is better. Much iron in the soil is an advantage, 
because it darkens the seed, and dark seed brings a better 
price. Cacao exhausts the phosphorus of the soil rather 
rapidlv. 

CULTURE 

Planting. Cacao is reproduced by seed. These can 
be planted where the trees are wanted, or in seed beds. 
The disadvantage of using seed beds is that the plants 
grow rapidly, and do not stand transplanting well. In- 
jury to the roots can be avoided by planting the seed 
in bamboo joints, and merely splitting these when the 



CACAO 171 

plants are large enough to be put in their permanent 
places. The disadvantages of planting the seed where 
the trees are wanted are that tliey must be cultivated and 
shaded while still very small, and that insects and other 
animals are likely to eat the seed. Insects can be kept 
away by putting ashes around the seed. 

The seeds are planted 2 or 3 cm deep, and sliould 
germinate within two weeks. If seed beds are used, the 
plants should be 15 cm apart, in rows 25 cm apart. It 
is probably never advisable to liave the trees less than 
3.5 meters apart, though they are said to have been 
much closer together in Maripipi. The first crop is ob- 
tained when they are four or five years old. 

Shade. Cacao must always be shaded. The same 
kinds of trees are used to shade cacao as to shade 
coffee. Since cacao grows at lesser altitudes, and en- 
dures a denser shade than coffee, it is more often prac- 
ticable to use shade trees which themselves yield useful 
products. Bananas are used to shade young cacao, and 
ilangilang and some of the large fruit trees can be used 
when the trees are mature. Young plants of some large 
tree are planted in the place of alDOut one twentieth of 
the cacao trees. 

Cultivation. Whether or not tlie ground is weedy, 
cacao will much more than pay, by the greater yield, 
for a cultivation of the soil twice a year. The trees 
should also be pruned once a year, and kept from be- 
coming too high. The fruit should always be cut, not 
broken off, to save the place for future flowers. 



172 



PHILIPPINE A GRICUL TURE 



Enemies. Cacao has many enemies, both insects and 
fungi. In the PhiHppines, a wood-boring insect, and 
anotluT wliicli destroys the fruit, have been very destruc- 
tive, and during the last 
decade have made it im- 
possible to raise cacao 
with profit in many 
places. 

Crop. While a good 
crop should be ob- 
tained when the trees 
are five years old, it in- 
creases until the trees 
are twelve years old. 
For many years, then, 
the yield should be at 
least 500 kilos a year 
from each hektar. In 
Cebu,the foremost prov- 
ince in the Philippines 
in the production of 
cacao, the Census of 1903 showed the average yield to 
be 390 kilos. A great advantage in the culture of cacao 
is the small amount of labor required. On this account 
it is about as profitable a crop as coffee, although the 
coffee crop from an equal area of ground is much more 
valuable. 




Fig. 113. Cacao tree in fruit in Venezuela 



CHAPTER XIX 

FRUITS 

The word " fruit " lias two uses. Botanically speaking, 
any structure which contains seed is a fruit. But in 
more common use the word is a})pHed only to those 
which are fleshy and edible. This chapter is about 
fruits in this narrower, more common, sense. 

The Philippines have more fruits than have most 
countries, and some of them are of excellent quality. But 
others are not so good as in countries where they receive 
better care or where better varieties are cultivated. 

BANANAS 

History. By far the most important Philippine fruit is 
the banana. Almost or quite all of the Philippine culti- 
vated bananas are forms produced in cultivation from a 
single species, Miisa sapiciituni, which is not positively 
known except in cultivation. There are many wild 
species of Miisa in this part of the world, and some of 
these may have given rise to cultivated forms. The 
banana is a native of Malaya or southeastern Asia, but 
history does not tell when it was introduced into all 
other tropical countries. 

Description. In its stem, flowers, and fruit, the banana 
is practically like the abaca, except that in all the finer 

173 



174 



PHILIPPINE A GRICUL TURE 



varieties of banana the seeds are reduced to mere specks. 

In some varieties, however, as in the one called latandan 

in Manila, a few large seeds are sometimes found. 

Uses. The banana has various 
uses. The broad leaves are used 
for wrapping in place of paper; 
they are also used as dishes. The 
juice is used as an astringent and 
to fix dyes. After the fertile 
flowers have blossomed, the stam- 
inate flowers at the end of the 
cluster, with their bracts and 
fleshy stem, are cut off and 
cooked, and eaten as a fresh vege- 
table or as a salad.. 

Varieties. There are many va- 
rieties of bananas. A. M. Ellis, 
teacher in Leyte, has found more 
than sixty different ones in that 
island alone. They differ in the 
size and appearance of the plants, 
in the time which they take to ma- 
ture, and in the size, shape, color, 
texture, flavor, and uses of fruit. 

They also differ in the conditions under which they will 

thrive. Many of them are very local, and others have 

different names in different places. 

The favorite varieties for eating raw are the long green 

ones, spotted when ripe, called bongulan in Manila, and 




Fig. 114. 



Bunch of latandan 
bananas 



FRUITS 



175 



the lakatan, which is yellow. The morada is a very rich 
variety, brownish red in color, probably introduced from 
tropical America. In general, the finest varieties require 
the longest time before they mature. It is usual in Kng- 
lish to call the varieties which are eaten raw, bananas ; 
while those which must be cooked are called plantains. 

Climate and 
Soil. rhe ba- 
nana is a tropical 
plant, and most 
varieties are killed 
by frost. It en- 
dures shade, but 
bears more fruit 
in the sunshine, 
in places where 
shade is not 
needed. Like abaca, it cannot endure wind, nor dry air, 
and must be sheltered and shaded if exposed to them. 
The soil, also, must be moist; the more water it contains 
the better, if it also contains air. Heavy soil is l^etter 
than light. Rich soil is more necessary for the banana 
than for the abaca. Unless it is very rich, it sliould be 
fertilized freely. 

Planting and Cultivation. Bananas are propagated by 
transplanting the suckers which grow up around old 
plants. If they bear any unrolled leaves, these leaves 
should be cut off. The ground should be fine and rich 
where bananas are to be planted. Half a kilo of ashes 




Fig. 115. The morada banana 



176 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

around each plant is an excellent fertilizer ; but the ashes 
must be mixed well with the soil, not put against the 
plant. For most varieties, 3 meters apart in each direc- 
tion is a good distance in planting. 

The surface of the ground must always be kept loose, 
and free of weeds until the shade of the bananas can 
keep them down. The ground cannot be cultivated 
deeply without injuring the roots. If all the suckers 
which spring from the base of a plant are allowed to live, 
the plant will produce little and poor fruit, or none at all. 
As a general rule only one sucker at a time should be 
allowed to grow, but there may be two if the soil is 
rich and the plants are far enough apart. 

Time of Ripening. The time between planting and 
maturity varies from nine months to three years, depend- 
ing on the variety of banana and on the conditions of 
growth. 

When fully ripe, the banana is rich in sugar. Just 
before ripeness, this substance is mostly in the form of 
starch, and a very nourishing meal can be made by dry- 
ing bananas at this time and crushing them. The cook- 
ing bananas are commonly used before most of the starch 
turns to sugar. 

PAPAYA 

Description and Uses. This plant, whose name is 
Carica papaya, is another strictl)' tropical, quick-growing 
plant, whose stem is hardly woody enough to justify call- 
ing it a tree. 



FRUITS 



177 



Besides the ripe fruit, other parts of the plant are 
supposed to be useful in various ways. If the unripe 
fruit is fed to ducks and geese, it is expected to cause an 
abundance of eggs. It is given to human beings as a 
vermifuge. Soap is sometimes 
made from the leaves. 

The milky juice contains a 
substance like that in the juice 
of the stomach, wliich can digest 
the fibers in meat, and so make 
the meat tender and easily di- 
gestible. There are many va- 
rieties of this nourishing: fruit. 

Papaya is always reproduced 
by seed, and may mature in as 
short a time as nine months. 
The fruit should be produced 
throughout the year. • j,,^_ ^^,_ p^^^^^^^ 




CITRUS FRUITS 

History. Citrus is a genus of fruit trees, including 
all the kinds of oranges, lemons, limes (cabuyao), and 
pomelos, or lukban. As articles of commerce, these are 
the most important of tropical fruits; but the lands fore- 
most in their production, Italy and California, are not 
really tropical. A number of species of citrus are culti- 
vated ; but they have been so mixed in cultivation, and 
so many new forms have been produced, that it is no 
longer possible to state what, or how many, the wild 



178 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



ancestors were. All are natives of southeastern Asia and 
Mala3'a. 

In the Philippines. The varieties cultivated in the 
Philippines are mostly not very good, but the climate is 
excellent for them, and the best varieties can be easily 
introduced. Not every variety brought in can be ex- 
pected to produce fine fruit here, but some of them are 




Fig. 117. Pomelo 

sure to do so. The chief orange district in the Philip- 
pines is about Tanawan, in Batangas. 

Varieties. Flavor and juiciness are the iiiost impor- 
tant c[ualities in an orange ; after these come a loose 
skin and absence of seed. The finest oranges are the 
mandarin, the navel, and the blood. Each of these has 
many varieties. The mandarin is a native of China ; 
the navel probably originated in Brazil ; and the finest 
blood orange, in Malta. 

Some of the Philippine oranges have a very fine flavor, 
but they are tight-skinned, seedy, and fibrous. One of 
the best pomelos is the Chinese, the fruit of which is 



FRUITS 



179 



imported into Manila. A very fine and large lime 
grows in the Philippine forests. 

Climate. 'Die different varieties of citrus fruits make 
different demands on the climate. Some endure heavy 
frost, while others will not thrive where the temperature 
ever approaches the freez- 
ing point. There is no 
place in the Philippines, 
at whatever altitude, 
where some of these 
should not thrive. 

Soil. To permit the best growth, the soil must be 
fairly light, and without standing water within 150 cm of 
the surface ; but most of the roots do not run deeply. 
The soil should be rich in potassium, and especially so 
in lime. No other tropical fruit endures dry air so well 
as these do, if they are irrigated. 





Fk;. 118. Oiansre 




• 





Fig. 119. Lemons 

Propagation and Cultivation. The finer citrus fruits 
are reproduced by grafting. The seed of some strong and 
hardy kind is planted, and on the stem of the seedling a 
small branch of the desired variety is grafted. Grafting 
not only makes certain the kind of fruit that will be pro- 
duced, but also gives a plant that produces two or more 



i8o 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



years sooner than if it had been grown directly from the 
seed. 

In raising oranges, it is important to keep the ground 
well cultivated and free from weeds. Orange trees 
should be planted about 4 meters apart, and kept small 
enough not to be crowded. 

MANGO 

History. The choicest fruit in general cultivation in 
the Philippines is the mango, Alajio^i/era indica. This 
tree is a native of India, where its cultivation is very 
ancient. It also spread long ago over Malaya. It is 

cultivated in all tropi- 
cal countries. There 
are more than five 
hundred varieties in 
all India, and more 
than t w o hundred 
have been cultivated 
in a sino-le orrove. 
India and the Philip- 
pines are homes of the 
finest mangos. 

Fig. 120. Manffo tree in the Philippines _,. , ^^i 

Climate. The man- 
go is a distinctively tropical fruit, and thrives best 
where the temperature is uniformly high. Strong wind 
is very injurious to it. It endures dry seasons well, but 
should be irrigated, if the ground is dry during flowering 
time or the following three months. Rain at flowering 




FRUITS 



i«r 



time is likely to do great damage by preventing pollina- 
tion. Good mango soil is rich, deep, and well drained. 
Bones are a good fertilizer. 

Seed. The mango is reproduced by seed or by graft- 
ing. The seed is short-lived ; but it has been found in 
Hawaii that almost half of the seed will germinate, if kept 
a month before planting. It was also found there that 
if the hard shell is removed from the seed, the average 
time required for germination is i8 days, 
but that the average time with the shell 
left on is 40 days. The seeds should be 
placed on their sides. 

Grafting. The easiest way of grafting- 
mangos is that called inarching. A 
vigorous seedling about six months old, 
growing in a pot or large joint of bam- 
boo, is put where its stem can be 
placed beside a small branch-stem of the 
variety desired. The two stems must be ^'*=- '^'- ^"'^'■'^^""s 
of the same size. Where they are in contact, a piece of 
the surface about 10 cm lono; is then cut from each with 
a shaip knife, leaving a flat, smooth surface cut well into 
the wood. The two cut surfaces are then fastened to- 
gether firmly, but without much pressure; the bark of one 
stem must fit the bark of the other. 

The air is then kept away from the edges of the cut 
surfaces by means of grafting wax. A good liquid wax 
is made by melting together 160 grams of white resin and 
10 grams of beef tallow, and slowly adding 80 grams of 




1 82 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 

alcohol. The alcohol nuist not be added while the mixture 
is over the fire. 

After the two stems become well grown together, the 
branch is cut below the graft, and the top of the seedling 
is removed, leavino- the end of the branch irrowino- on the 
root of the seedling. It should then be set out in its 
permanent place as soon as possible. Plants can be 
transplanted whenever they are without young leaves. 
Teii meters between the trees is a o'ood distance. 

Cultivation. Like other plants, the mango will pay for 
cultivation of the ground by maturing sooner, and bear- 
ing larger crops. Smoking the trees is believed in the 
Philippines to stimulate the production of fruit; and the 
trees are hacked for the same purpose. This may in- 
crease the next crop of fruit, but only at the expense of 
the roots. 

The price of the fruit depends upon the season. Ex- 
periments in Manila have shown that at a temperature 
of 14° mangos not quite ripe will keep well for at least 
a month. This has also been found in Hawaii to be 
true at about 3°. 

MINOR FRUITS 

There are in the Philippines many fruits which are 
less important or less widely known than those which 
have been described. Of these there are two, the durian 
and the mangosteen, each of which is sometimes called 
the most delicious of all fruits. 

Mangosteen. The mangosteen is a native of the 
Moluccas, but has long been in cultivation as far as 



FRUITS 



183 




Flc. 122. MaiifTosteen 



Bengal. In tlie Pliilippincs it is found at Dapitan, and 
even in Negros, but is not common north of Jolo. The 
fruit is brougiit to Manihi from Singapore. 

The mangosteen is 
a small tree with dark 
red flowers and dark 
reddish brown, spotted 
fruit. The husk of the 
fruit is r e d \\ h e r e 
broken. Inside it is 
the white or rosy pulp. 
Fine mangosteens are 

almost seedless. In growing this fruit, care must be 
taken to secure rapid growth for some time after ger- 
mination. 

Santol is a very similar Philippine fruit, in the same 
family; but it has not the mangosteen's fine flavor. 

Durian. The durian is 
a huge fruit, 15 to 20 cm 
in diameter, with a hard 
shell covered with pyrami- 
dal spines. It is a native 
of Malaya, now culti\-ated 
as far as 14° north in Siam, 
but unknown in the Philippines north of Mindanao. 
The trees are very large, and are said to bear in other 
places as many as two hundred fruits; but in Mindanao 
they usually bear very few. Inside the hard shell is a 
butter-like, creamy pulp, delicious in taste and vile in 





Fig 



Atis 



1 84 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



odor. When the season opens, single fruits sell in 
Singapore for two pesos. 

Mabolo. The mabolo, Diospyros discolor, is a com- 
mon Philippine fruit with good flavor, but unpleasant 
odor. Besides this species and many others in the 

Philippines, the genus 

Diospyros contains the 

persimmons, which are 

a staple fruit of Japan. 

The heartwood of mabolo 

sometimes turns perfectly 

^'"- '''■ ^'^'^° black, and is sold as 

ebony. More commonly, it is not all quite black ; then 

it is called camagon. Other species of Diospyros also 

furnish ebony, and probably camagon as well. 







Fig. 125. Guavas 

Lansones. Next to the mango, the most highly prized 
fruit on the Manila market is the lanson. This is a 
small fruit, two or three centimeters in diameter, but 
borne in large bunches. It has a thin skin, in which is 
a bitter, milky juice. Inside this the fruit has five divi- 



FRUITS 



185 



sions, each of which, in the wild lanson, usually contains 
a seed. As a result of cultivation and selection, and 
propagation by cuttings, four of these seeds, and some- 
times all five, have become very small and tasteless. 




h;. 126. Breadfruit 



The remaining seed is large and bitter, and not edible. 
Young trees begin to produce when about five years 
old, and when mature are six meters or more in height. 

In Java the seed of lansones are used as a vermifuge, 
and the fresh skin of the fruit is rubbed on the body 
after bathing. 

The Genus Anona. The genus Aiioua includes several 
Philippine fruits, — the atis, or sweet sop, anonas, and sour 
sop, or guanabano. All of these are natives of America 
and grow only in the tropics. The sweet sop has several 



1 86 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



ovaries in each flower, and these remain separable in 
fruit. Its seed, ground fine, serves as an insecticide, 
which is used, for instance, to kill the insects on dogs. 
The custard apple, or cherimoya, is usually called the 
finest of the fruits in this genus ; it has not been intro- 
duced into the Philippines. The ilangilang is a tree in 
this family. 

Other Fruits. Among the numerous other Philippine 
fruits are the chico ; the chico mamey, a fine fruit which 
seems now to be cultivated only at Alfonso in Cavite ; 
antipolo, or camansi, the breadfruit ; nangka, the jack- 
fruit ; bilimbi; iba; casoy ; and guava. 




GLOSSARY 



Anther. See Flo-.aer. 

Bacteria. Tlie smallest, and probably the 
most primitive, living things. They are 
without chlorophyll, and most of them 
must obtain their "food as animals do, 
from animals and plants. There are 
many kinds, of which a few cause dis- 
ease. Consumption and cholera are 
human diseases caused by bacteria. 

Bract. A specialized leaf, in or just below 
an inflorescence. Bracts are usually 
simple and smaller than other leaves, 
or they are not green. 

Calcium. An element widespreatl in the 
soil, making up a large part of lime- 
stone, marble, pearls, gypsum, and 
chalk. It is an especially valuable fer- 
tilizer for crops not raised for the seed 
or fruit, and for legumes. 

Capsule. A dry fruit, which opens when 
ripe and lets the seed escape. It is 
composed of two or more carpels. Ex- 
amples : tobacco, okra, cotton. 

Carbon. An element found free in two 
forms, as diamond and as graphite (the 
" lead" of lead pencils). In combina- 
tion it is found in every part of every 
living thing. 

Carbon dioxid. A gas, formed by the 
union of carbon and oxygen. AH liv- 
ing things form carbon dio.\id at all 



times; but green plants destroy it in 
sunlight. It is given off by animals 
when they breathe. 

Carpel. See Floioer. 

Cell. The unit of structure of living 
things. Some living things, as bac- 
teria, are single cells, but most are 
made up of many cells. The parts of 
a plant cell are usually: i. The proto- 
])Iasm, or living part of the cell. 2. 
The vacuoles, ca\ilics in the proto- 
plasm, full of water and substances 
dissolved in the water. 3. The cell 
wall, a hard substance, inclosing the 
protoplasm. Cells of animals have no 
wall, or else one not made of cellulose. 

Conservation. Saving up; keeping. 

Epidermis. A single layer of cells, cov- 
ering every part of the plant except the 
root cap. 

Export. To send for sale or exchange 
to other countries or places. The ex- 
ports of a country or place are the 
things sent out of it. The things 
brought in are imports. 

Flower. A flower is the end of a shoot 
or liranch, which has given up the 
vegetative function and become s])e- 
cialized as a rej^roductive structure. 
Its parts are the end of the stem, called 
the receptacle, and, if the flower is 
complete, four kinds of leaves : — ■ 



187 



1 88 



GLOSSARY 



Sepals. These are the outermost. They 
are usually green in coKjr, but small. 
All together, they make up the calyx. 

Petals. These are inside the calyx. They 
are usually larger than the sepals and 
showy in form or color. The petals 
make up the corolla. 

Stamens. These are borne in or upon the 
corolla. Each stamen is made up of a 
slender stalk, called the filament, and 
an enlarged end, usually yellow, called 
the anther. The anther is full of a fine 
powder called pollen. 

Cai-pels. These are the central leaves of 
the flower, but usually do not look at 
all like leaves. A flower may have one 
or more of them. Any one carpel not 
united with others, or a union of several 
of them, makes a pistil. A flower of 
ni;)st kinds of plants has but one pistil; 
but a few kinds, as the ilangilang and 
atis, have many. The parts of the pistil 
are: I. The enlarged, hollow, basal 
part, the ovary, which contains ovules. 
2. The upper part, the stigma, on 
which the pollen must fall and germi- 
nate. 3. The style, which connects 
the ovary and stigma. Some flowers 
have no style. Pistillate flowers con- 
tain ])istils but no stamens. Staminate 
flowers have stamens, but no pistils. 
Flowers with both stamens and pistils 
are perfect. 

Germination. The beginning to grow of 
a seed or spore. 

Hybrid. A plant or animal whose parents 
are of different kinds. The mule is a 
hybrid between the horse and the 
ass. 



Induction coil. An apparatus for produc- 
ing electric currents by induction. In- 
duction is the causing of a current in 
one body by a current in another body, 
when the two bodies are not in contact. 
In induction coils the wires are usually 
wound with silk, to keep them from 
touching each other. 

Inflorescence. A collection of flowers 
growing on a special part of a plant. 
All the flowers on an ear of maize, or 
at the top of one stem of tobacco or 
rice, make up an inflorescence. 

Internal revenue. All the revenue or 
income of a country, except that col- 
lected by taxes on exports or im- 
ports. 

Litmus paper. Paper treated with a sub- 
stance which makes it l)lue when alka- 
line, but red when acid. An acid is a 
sour substance, such as vinegar. Lime 
and ashes are alkaline. 

Node. The part of a stem where leaves 
and branches are borne. 

Panicle. A branched inflorescence, in 

which the lower flowers blossmn before 

those at the top. 
Parasite. Any living thing which gets 

its food from some other living (not 

dead) thing. 
Petal. See Fhm'er. 
Petiole. The part of the leaf which is 

stem-like. A leaf without a petiole is 

sessile. 
Pistil. See Flower. 
Pollen. See Floiver. 
Propagation. See Reprodtcetion. 
Proteids. Food substances which are 



GLOSSARY 



189 



very complicateil ami contain nitrogen. 
The white of eggs is a proteid. 
Protoplasm. See Ceil. 

Reproduction. The process by which liv- 
ing things that already exist produce 
or bear new living things of the same 
kinds. When reproduction increases 
the number, or produces the offspring 
in new places, it is often called propa- 
gation. 

Sepal. See Flower. 

Spore. A reproductive structure, usually 
made up of a single cell. Spores are 
very much smaller than seeds. The 
fungi, seaweeds, mosses, and ferns are 
propagated by means of spores, instead 
of seeds. 



Stamen. See I'loiver. 

Sterilize. To make anything sterile, so 
that nothing will grow in it. The soil, 
or any other substance, is sterili/.ed 
when the seeds, spores, and other living 
things in it are killed. 

Stigma. See Flower. 

Style. See Flo-wer. 

Subsoil. A layer of the earth often 
found under the real soil, but ai)uve the 
rock. The most important character 
of most subsoils is their permitting, or 
not permitting, the passage of water. 

Vegetative parts of plants. Those parts 
whose function is to build up the indi- 
vidual plant, not to produce its off- 
spring. 



INDEX 



Abaca, 133-143; effect of 
cultivation, 42; effect of 
shading, 33. 

Agave, 144. 

Agriculture, i. 

Alknial soil, 19. 

Altitude, 51. 

Ampalaya, 74. 

Ananassa, 146. 

Anona, 185. 

Anther, 187. 

Ants, 65. 

Arachis, 77. 

Arid land, uses, 43. 

Arrowroot, 88. 

Arsenic, 56. 

Ashes, 28. 

Bacteria, $^, 187. 
Bagasse, 120. 
Banana, 173-176. 
Batangas, coffee, 162. 
Batao, 77. 
Beans, 76. 
Beet, 69. 
Blue vitriol, 59. 
Bordeaux mi.xture, 59. 
Bow-string hemp, 149. 
Bract, 187. 
Breadfruit, 186. 
Buhac, 57. 

Cabbage, 72. 
Cacao, 168-172. 
Cagyos, 77. 
Caingin system, 30. 
Cajanus, 77. 
Calcium, 27, 187. 
Camagon, 184. 
Camoting cahoy, 82-86. 
Canal, irrigating, 45. 
Cane, sugar, 11 2-1 21. 
Capsule, 187. 
Carbon, 25. 



Carbon dioxid, 32, 187. 

Carica papaya, 176. 

Carrot, 69, 70. 

Cassava, 82-86. 

Cell, 187. 

Chico, 186. 

Chico mamey, 186. 

Chlorophyll, 4, 32. 

Cincomas, 70, 76. 

Citrus, 177-180. 

Clay, 22; dries badly, 42. 

Climate, 46-52. 

Coconut, 122-132; dis- 
tance between plants, 
34; numerous roots, 
39; seed, 12; beetle, 

54- 
Cocos nucifera, 122. 
Coffea, 160. 
Coffee, 160-167; insect 

enemies of, 54; rust, 

58-60, 164, 167. 
Coir, 123, 132. 
Colocasia, 68. 
Conservation, 187. 
Copper sulphate, 50-60. 
Copra, 123, 132. 
Corn, 90. 
Cotton, 148. 
Cotyledons, 8, 12. 
Cucumber, 73, 75. 
Cultivation, effect on soil 

water, 41, 42; to drive 

away ants, 65 ; to dry 

the soil, 63. 
Curing tobacco, 154, 159. 

Dapdap, 139. 
Dicotyledons, 12. 
Dioscorea, 68. 
Diospyros, 184. 
Diseases of plants, 53. 
Drainage, 38. 
Drill, loi; rice, 109, no. 

190 



Drought, effect on coco- 
nut, 128; effect on 
maguey, 143. 

Dry seasons, where likely, 

5°.- 
Durian, 183. 

Eggplant, 80. 

Elements, chemical, 24- 

27- 

Embryo, 10. 
Endosperm, 11. 
Epidermis, 187. 
Export, 187. 

Fertilizers, 27-30, 64. 

Fiber plants, 133-149. 

Flower, 10, 187; of maize, 
91. 

Fodder, maize, 94-101 ; 
peanut, 77. 

Frost, 47. 

Fruit, 15, 173-186; gar- 
den, 79-81. 

Fungi, 5, 58-60. 

Gabi, 68. 
Garden, 69-81. 
Germination, 188. 
Glucose, 119. 
Gossypium, 148. 
Gourd, 73. 

Grafting, mango, iSi, 182. 
Grafting wax, 181. 
Green manures, 29. 
Guano, 28. 
Guava, 184. 

Hairs, on tobacco leaves, 

ISO- 
Hemp, Manila. See Abaca. 
Hills, of maize, 100; of 

squashes, 73. 
Humus, 20. 



INDEX 



191 



Hybrid, 188. 
Hydrogen, 25, 26, 35. 

Inarching, 181. 
Indigo, 79. 
Induction coil, 188. 
Inflorescence, 188. 
Insects, 53-58. 
Internal revenue, 188. 
Ipomtra, 67. 
Iron, 25, 26; and tobacco, 

155. 
Irrigation, 43-45; o^ 

cane, 118. 
Isabela, tobacco, 153. 

Japanese rice, 104. 
Java, rice production, 105. 
Jute, 149. 

Kapok, L49. 

Kerosene emulsion, 57; 

to kill insects, 56; to 

protect seed, 65. 

Lanson, 1S4. 

Leaf, parts of, 9. 

Leaf crops, 71, 72. 

Legume familx', 29, 75-79. 

Lemon, 177. 

Lettuce, 73; effect of cul- 
tivation, 41. 

Liberian coffee, 163. 

Light, 32-34; amount at 
Para and Kew, 47. 

Lime, fruit, 177. 

Lime, and tobacco, 154; 
in Bordeau.x mi.xture, 
60. See Calcium. 

Lipa, coffee, 162. 

Litmus paper, 188. 

Loam, 22. 

Locusts, 55. 

Loess, 18. 

Alabolo, 184. 
Madrecacao, 139. 
Magnesium, 25. 
Maguey, 143-146. 
Maize, 90-102 ; insect 

enemies of, 54, 56; 

smut, 58. 



Mangifcra, 180. 

Mango, 180-182. 

Mangosteen, 182. 

Mani, 77, 78. 

Manihot, 82. 

Maniok, 82-86. 

Manure, for fertilizer, 
28. 

Melons, 73, 75. 

Metamorphosis of insects, 
54- 

Micropyle, 11, 13. 

Mindanao, coffee, 163. 

Mineral food, dissolved 
in water, 36. 

Moisture, a factor of cli- 
mate, 46. 

Mold, 20. 

Monocotvledons, 12. 

Mulch, 4'2. 

Mungo, 76. 

Musa, 133. 

Musa textilis, 133. 

Mushrcioms, 5. 

Mustard, 71. 

Name (Philippine vam), 

68. 
Names, of plants, 6. 
Nicotiana, 150. 
Nicotine, 151. 
Night-flying insects, 56. 
Nitrogen, 28, 29 ; used by 

maniok, 84. 
Node, 188. 
Nodules, on roots of 

legumes, 76. 

Okra, 79. 
Onion, 70. 
Orange, 177-180. 
Orchard, 61. 
Origin, of soil, 16-18. 
Oryza, 103. 
Ovary, 10. 
Ovule, 10. 
Oxygen, 25. 

Palms, 122. 

Pangasinan, rice produc- 
tion, 105. 



Panicle, 188. 

Papaya, 176, 177. 

Paper, abaca, 135. 

Paper materials, 142. 

Paquit, 68. 

Parasite, 188. 

Paris green, 56. 

Parsnip, 70. 

Paths, in garden, 63. 

Pea, 76. 

Peanut, 77-79. 

Pe chai, 72. 

Pepper, 81. 

Persian insect powder, ^7. 

Petiole, 188. 

Phaseolus, 6. 

Phosphorus, 25, 28. 

Pineapple, 146-148. 

Pistil, 188. 

Plants, 3-10; food of, 3, 

24-31 ; parts of, 8. 
Plumule, II, 13. 
Pollen, 188; of maize, 92. 
Pomelo, 177, 178. 
Potassium, 25. 
Potato, 86, 87. 
Propagation, 188. 
Proteids, 76. 
Protoplasm, 189. 
Prussic acid, 83. 
Pumps, for irrigation, 43. 

Radicle, 11, 13. 

Radish, 70. 

Rainfall, and altitude, 51 ; 

in Philippines, 48. 
Ramie, 149. 
Rattan, 149. 
Reproduction, 189. 
Residual soil, 18. 
Rhizome, 88. 
Rice, 103-111. 
Root, 8, 39. 
Root crops, 66-70. 
Root hairs, 39. 
Rotation of crops, 31. 

.Saccharum, 113. 
Sand, 21. 
Santol, 183. 
Seaweeds, 5. 



192 



INDEX 



Seed, 10, 11-15; of abaca, 

139- 

Seed beds, 65, 66. 

Seed coats, 11, 13. 

Selection of seed, of coco- 
nut, 129; of maize, 97. 

Shade, j,z\ and abaca, 

139- 

Shade trees, 33, 139. 

Shoot, 9. 

Silk-cotton tree, 149. 

Sinamay, 134. 

Sisal, 144. 

Sitao, 77. 

Soil, 16-23; cultivation 
for maize, 98; in gar- 
den, 63, 64. 

Solanum, 86. 

Sour sop, 185. 

Spore, 189; of fungi, 58. 

Squashes, 73-75. 

Squash, seed, 13. 

Stamens, 189. 

Starch, 32, 82-89; in 
banana, 176; manu- 
facture, 85 ; rice, 106. 

Starch plants, 82-S9. 

Stem, 9. 

Sterilize, 189. 

Stigma, 189. 



Storage, of mango, 182. 

Stripping abaca, 141. 

Structure of soil, 21-23. 

Style, 189; of maize, 92. 

Subsoil, 189. 

Sugar, 32; cane, 112-121. 

Sulphur, 25. 

Sumatra tobacco, iss, 

156. 
Sweet potato, 67. 
Sweet sop, 185. 

Talahib, 113. 

Talong, 80. 

Tapioca, 86. 

Taro, 68. 

Tax, on tobacco, 152. 

Tegmen, 11, 13. 

Temperature, in Philip- 
pines, 46; of coconut 
leaf, 126. 

Testa, II, 13. 

Texas, rice cultivation, 
109. 

Threshing machine, 1 1 1 . 

Tobacco, 150-159; need 
of shade, 34; used in 
fighting insects, 56. 

Tomato, 8b. 

Tools, 64. 



Transpiration, 36. 
Transpiration stream, 36. 
Transplanting, 40; rice, 

108. 
Tuba, 123. 
Tuber, 86. 
Tugui, 68. 
Turnip, 70. 

Ubi, 68. 
Upo, 74. 

Vacuoles, 35. 
Vegetative parts of plants, 
189. 

Water, 35-45; about soil 
particles, 38, 41; in 
beach soil, 127; in soil, 
22, 63; movement, 42. 

Weather and formation of 
soil, 17. 

Weeds, 34. 

Wild rice, 104. 

Windmills, 43. 

Worms, causing disease, 
53- 

Yam, 68. 

Zea, 90. 




DEC 5 t 



niilllil;! 




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